The Secret of Edd
by Kitty Kyinsky
Summary: A supernatural story centered around Edd in which the Eds build a machine to go to other universesand end up changing their own world, in unexpected ways...
1. Rolf's Chores

Disclaimer: I don't own Ed, Edd, Eddy, or any of the other kids from that show, Peach Creek, or the surrounding area—but as this is an AU story things wil vary anyway. Any characters you don't know from the show are either my representation of alluded characters or ones of my own changing or creation.

The Secret of Edd part 1

Date: July 31st, 2001

Eddy walked along the sidewalk, seeming bored. He kicked a can into the road, then slumped onto the ground and leaned against the fence. Looking around, he saw an empty cul-de-sac surrounding him.

"Hello?" he yelled, then listened to the echo. Silence fell again, and he muttered, "Jeez, where is everybody?"

Yells erupted form across the street, and squealing followed. Eddy ran over and looked at Rolf. He was running after Wilfred when he noticed Eddy.

"Hello Ed-boy. Why do you look so blue?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Huh?" Eddy said, looking puzzled.

Rolf frowned. "Rolf dislikes this manner of speaking... why do you look so sad, Ed-boy?"

"Nothing's wrong, Rolf. Do you know where everyone is? I can't find them." Eddy said hopefully.

Rolf now shook his head. "No, except trendy Nazz-girl. She went to town with her mother. But you cannot find anyone else? That reminds me of the time my great nana was out in the wild alone and-" His story was cut off as Eddy interrupted.

"That's great Rolf, I'll see you later," Eddy called over his shoulder as he walked off.

"Life's not too short, Ed-boy!" Rolf exclaimed, and then turned back towards Wilfred.

Eddy ran down the road to Edd's house and opened the door. There, Double D was balancing two very large stacks of paper and trying to put them on the table. He was muttering under his breath and swaying slightly. As he put them down without the stacks sliding all over, he collapsed on to a chair, then fell back as he noticed Eddy.

"Ow! Eddy, you know I hate that!" He exclaimed as he got to his feet. Rubbing his head, Edd looked at the papers and backed away from the table.

"What's with all the papers, Double D? Old school stuff, so you can try to 'educate' us again?" Eddy asked as he leaned against the wall. Glancing down, he noticed all the mud he tracked in. /Oops! Better hope Double D doesn't notice _that_…/ Eddy thought, looking up.

Edd smiled. "That _is_ a good idea, Eddy," Eddy grimaced, and Edd continued. "However, these are old papers of Fathers'. He asked me to organize them, as he wasn't very well organized before he met Mother."

Eddy stared at the papers, then at Edd. "Really?" He asked sarcastically. "How could you tell?" Double D looked puzzled. "Never mind. Anyway, I came over to think of a scam. Problem is, only Rolf's around."

"Only Rolf?" Edd asked. "What about Ed? I'm sure he could assist us in whatever you come up with."

Eddy glared. "Oh, sure, if you want to watch a sixteen hour monster movie marathon! I was lucky to get out of Monobrow's room alive!" Eddy exclaimed. "It's only us and Rolf. Have any smart ideas?"

"Oh, poor Ed. He's missing out on so many opportunities to learn, and to develop his mind." Edd murmured disappointedly. Eddy glanced at the clock irritably when Edd spoke again. "Well, we could always assist Rolf in his daily chores again, maybe."

"That's it!" Eddy yelled. "10 cents a chore! We'll be rolling in jawbreakers, and since it's only us, we don't have to share with Lumpy!"

"Well, Eddy, I recommend 5 cents per chore, and a refund if we mess up too badly. After all, that seems to occur rather frequently."

"What? Fine!" he muttered as Edd gave him a look. "If we end up owing him money, it's your fault, sockhead."

"Hmph! Well, let's be off, shall we?" Edd asked, smiling. He straightened and walked to the door, then turned and stared at Eddy's feet. "EDDY! YOUR SHOES ARE FILTHY!" he shrieked, and ran to get some antibacterial sprays and a clean sponge to clean it up with.

Later

"You ready?" Eddy asked, looking at Double D.

"'Are you ready' is how you should say that, Eddy. And yes, I am." Edd replied.

"Okay then, Hi Rolf!" he yelled, waving.

"Hello Ed-boys." Rolf said, then glanced around. "Where is tall-and- smelly Ed-boy? Chasing Rolf's chickens?"

"Ed is busy, and couldn't join us today." Edd said.

"Yeah, he's watching more Cyclops movies. Say, Rolf. Could we delight you by doing some of your chores, for the premium price of only 5 cents per chore?" Eddy aked, smiling hopefully at Rolf.

Rolf frowned. "Surely, Rolf's ears decieve him. He has allowed Ed- boys to 'help' before, and they only left more work for me!"

"Heh heh, well, Rolf, Ed isn't here." Edd explained nervously. "And usually, he's the one who messes up--"

"Yeah!" Eddy interupted. "It's always stupid Monobrow's fault! And no one else is here, and there's no other way to make money for jawbreakers!"

"Ah, Ed-boys want to buy jawbreakers? Fine." Rolf said slowly, still frowning. "Rolf will pay 5 cents for each task you complete."

"Thank you very much, Rolf." Edd said.

"Yeah, thanks. So, what're we doing first?" Eddy asked, looking around the farm-like area.

"First, Ed-boys clean the chicken coop." Rolf replied. "And don't let the chickens run away. Rolf's chickens must stay here, near the coop."

Eddy started walking off, and Edd followed him.

"Eddy, what will do about the chickens? We can't hold them and clean the coop at once."

"Tie them up? See any rope around here? I don't!" Eddy replied as he stared at the chicken inside. Lowering his head, he stuck his finger in and tried to wake the sleeping bird from its rest.

"Um, I'm not sure that's such a good idea--" Edd winced as the chicken bit Eddy's finger as hard as it could.

"OW! Stupid bird!" Eddy screamed, holding his finger."I hate birds!"

"I told you that wasn't a good idea. However, tying the birds while we wash the coop was. I think I have some rope," He paused and reached into his pocket, then smiled as he held a long, thin strand of rope. "Here we go."

Eddy stared at him. "You keep some of the strangest things..." he muttered, then starighted and grinned. "Tie the birds, Double D!"

"Aye aye, Eddy!" Edd replied as he gently picked up the birds and tied their feet to the rope. He then walked to the nearest tree and tied the rope around it.

They then set about washing the coop with a hose and some sponges. It took about 8 minutes, and they were done.

"Hey Rolf! The chicken coop's clean!" Eddy yelled. Rolf came out of his shed, holding a large beet.

"Well, Ed-boys cleaned the chicken coop. Five cents pay is in order. Here you go." Rolf said coldly, and gave Edd a nickel.

Eddy looked puzzled, then angry. "Hey! Where's _my_ nickel?"Eddy exclaimed.

"Five cents per chore, not five cents per Ed-boy." Rolf said, then held out a basket and a pail. " Now get a basket of eggs, a full pail of milk, and wash Rolf's dishes, and I will pay 15 cents."

"FIFTEEN CENTS? Come on, Double D! What are you waiting for?" Eddy exclaimed, grabbing the basket and pail.

"Um, certainly, Eddy. Excuse me, Rolf." Edd said as he turned around. "Eddy, what should I do?"

"You can wash the dishes, then help me get some milk I'll go get the eggs from my house." Eddy said, and started for the street.

"Eddy, I believe Rolf meant to get the eggs from his chickens, not from your refrigerator. Then the milk from his cow." Edd commented, smirking.

"Uh, yeah, I knew that, Sockhead! Jeez..." Eddy exclaimed, and turned back towards the chicken coop.

Edd shook his head in amazement and walked into the house, where he grabbed a sponge and started carefully washing each plate.

Rolf walked into the kitchen. "Ed-boy, when you are done with these plates, get the stack on the sidewalk. I would get them, but I must make more wieners for my father today."

"Certainly Rolf," Edd muttered, staring carefully at the glass he held.

Eddy looked around him at the piles of eggs in the nests. "This is gonna be too easy!" He exclaimed, grabbing some and sticking them into the basket.

When it was half full of eggs, Eddy paused. There was a rustling noise in the bushes behind him. He turned slowly and froze as he saw his 'greatest fear', the terrifying rooster of Rolf's that had attacked him in the past.

"Uh, oh..." he whispered. The rooster stared at him and tensed up. It tilted its head to one side, then the other, cracking its neck slightly as it glared. "...AHH!" Eddy screamed, turning and running with the rooster right behind him.

Edd walked out and grabbed the plates, then headed back for the house when he saw Eddy running straight at him. "Um, Eddy, _LOOK OUT_!" Edd shrieked.

"Ow!" Eddy exclaimed as he crashed into Edd, plates and eggs broken all around them.

"**_ED-BOYS_**!" Rolf yelled, staring in shock. He ran over and stared at the broken egg-shells scattered everywhere.

"The yolks have been dishonored..." he murmured softly, holding one in his hand. He looked up slowly and menacingly at Edd and Eddy. Both kids noticed a red light and crazed look in his eyes.

"U-um, here now, Rolf, it was a-an accident, and I'm sure Eddy and I will d-do anything we can to make restitutions, um... " Edd stuttered, then whispered, "Eddy, I'm not sure we can count on Rolf to be sensible about this."

Rolf rolled up his sleve and made a fist, staring at them. Eddy noticed a definite similarity between Rolf and the rooster…

"Oh, man... LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Eddy yelled, bolting down the street.

"Agreed!" Edd gasped as he turned tail with Eddy, dropping the nickel in his fright.

Rolf waved his fist in the air. "Come back, cowardly-Ed-boys!" he screamed.

Edd and Eddy ran up the street, with the rooster chasing after. Ed came out and waved. "Hi, guys!"

Eddy stopped and Edd fell on top of him. "ED? What are you doing out here?" Eddy exclaimed.

"I thought there was a monster movie marathon on, Ed," Edd said as he pulled himself to his feet. "Why aren't you still watching it?"

"Aw, they cancelled the rest of it 'causethe hospital got closed and they wanted everyone to know." Ed pouted, then froze as he saw the creature stalking Eddy along the street. "CHICKEN!" he yelled, and ran over. It tried to get away, but his grasp was too strong. He stood there, stroking the bird like it was a cat.

Eddy looked mad. "Well, one person here is happy, but we still don't have any jawbreakers! Thanks alot, Sockhead." He muttered, kicking the street and stomping down to his house.

"Eddy, I don't see how you can lay all of this only on me..." Edd trailed off as Eddy ignored him and kept walking angrily down the street, stopping to break a mailbox and crush a trash can.

"Don't bother, Double D. Eddy has a quick temper, and little intelligence to go with it. He'll have forgotten this by tomorrow." Ed said, sounding wise as he said it.

Edd sighed. "I'm afraid that's all too true, Ed. All too true..." he whispered as he walked down the way Edd had gone to go to his house.

Ed stood in the middle of the street, looking completely void of brains as he continued stroking the chicken.

"I'll name you 'Nestor the second'." he decided, ans turned back to his house to put the chicken in his room.

Eddy was furious. Double D had gone and ruined yet another good idea.

/I could have had two or three jawbreakers, but no! Sockhead had to go and ruin it/ Eddy thought as he jumped onto on of the chairs in the kitchen.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as it fell and broke under him. /All his and Lumpy's fault.../

He then looked in the fridge, and noticed the egg carton on the top shelf. "Rolf meant the eggs from the chickens, not your fridge. He wanted milk from his cow, not your fridge. I'm a stupid sockhead who's always such a goody-goody." Eddy mimicked in a high pitch voice.

He glared, then pulled out the milk and eggs. He walked out the door and threw them on the grass. "HAPPY NOW, SOCKHEAD?" he screamed, then ran back in for more stuff to destroy in his fury.

Edd looked dismal as he ironed the clothes in the basket. As his attention wandered, the iron came closer and closer to his finger until he shrieked, dropping it.

"HOT! Ow, ow, ow, ow..." He murmured, turning it as to not burn the floor, and then running into the bathroom. There, he turned on the cold water and thrust his finger into it. "Burnt my finger, goodness, what's wrong with me today?"

When his finger felt better, he put some lotion on it, and put away the clothes. Pulling the iron's plug out of the outlit, he noticed a sticky note on his bed.

"Hmmm... what's this?" he whispered. "_Dear Edward, an immunization shot is on your desk, please administer it to your right arm within two weeks, as it's a tetinus booster..._ oh dear.. I hate taking shots..." he whispered, then looked the note over.

"What a minute, tetinus booster? I don't need that again for a year. Did mother make some sort of a mistake? I had better check this, and make certain it's what she says it is." Edd remarked as he picked the shot up and put it in a sterilized bag. He then froze and stared at it.

"Not what she said it is? Mother wouldn't lie... it's Eddy's influence on me, no doubt." Slowly, he opened one of his drawers and thrust it inside.

"Or, is it simply because of that conversation between Mother and Father? I should tell them I heard it, so they don't belive I was eavesdropping... no... I won't. That part about 'he's mature enough to know this' makes me wonder if Mother and Father have been keeping many things from me. Maybe, I'm adopted? Or, infected with some fatal disease? Or…"

Edd now chuckled, "Perhaps I'm an alien-abductee? How silly of myself. Everthing is just fine." Edd finished his conversation with himself and closed the drawer, then turned to making his bed.

End of Part 1

Eddy: "Um... are your parents even allowed to be giving you needles? This story's rated something like PG10, seems like it should be higher..."

Edd (nervously): "Well, technically my mom's my registered—nurse... I _think_ it's legal."

Eddy looks over at him, and Edd shrugs.

Eddy: "I guess so... Anyway, what happens if you _are_ an alien-abductee, and it was some weird experimental stuff that was under your hat that Ed and me saw?"

Edd groans. "Eddy, if that was the case, wouldn't you remember that being what you saw? Besides... I think that you wouldn't have started laughing so quickly if that was the case."

Ed: "So what is Double D's big secret?"

Edd: "No idea."

Ed and Eddy look over at him, disappointed.

Eddy: "What, a surprise to you too? It's not something they referred to in the show? That's not cool."

KK: "It's an AU fic... It doesn't need to make much sense literally. It's assuming certain things happened in you guys' pasts which probably didn't."

All three blink, and look quickly at KK. Recognition sets in, and they nod.

Edd: "Ah, yes, the author makes an appearance. ...Might I ask, isn't this entire thing an idea you stole from Chuquita? The main characters having conversations about the chapter that was just written, down at the bottom of the document?"

KK (sheepishly): "Well, yeah... But I needed something other than just rewriting the old chapters to get my interest flowing again. Besides, until I get someway to get the chapters from this computer to the one that still has internet access, I can't update."

Eddy (muttering): "It'd be too hard for you to just write something for a last chapter and get the thing done, huh?"

KK: "Yeah. Too much of it is bad. And I don't think anyone understood where the main nemesis came from---I don't entirely understood. Originally this was supposed to have seven chapters... not fifteen or so."

Eddy, curious now: "So are ya gonne rewrite the ending?"

KK: "Probably. Now I'm gonna go think, you guys chat for a minute or two."

KK walks away into shadows, fading from view.

Edd and Eddy watch her leave.

Edd: "Well, this is better than her doing a self insertion, even if it does inflate the sizes of her chapters unfairly."

Eddy: "Who cares? I wanna know what she's changing. She was doing all those drawings..."

Edd: "Most of those are three years old, I doubt she'll scan them. They'll probably be redrawn if she so chooses, or she'll continue the bitmap drawings, and put them on her site... Where'd Ed go?"

The two look around. Their current location is Edd's room, at night and with only an electric candle in the window to provide light. Ed had vanished.

Eddy: "...Now we gotta go look for him. See ya, people!"

Edd prepares to run off, and pauses to look out the forth wall—Eddy leaves the room.

Edd: "Indeed... If you prefer, these chapters are being put into Kitty's website (the link's in her profile) without our little side conversations in them, and with any pictures she's made. She apologizes for the exceedingly lengthy delay in her contiuation of the story, and sincerely wishes for you all to continue enjoying our little AU."

Ed—from a dark, shadowy corner of the room: "Please read and review!"

Edd (jumps in fear): "Ack! Ed?"


	2. The Warpgate

Note: In order to tell people with the same name apart, any unfamiliar doubles who appear will have their names in bold.

Edd: "If Ed scares me again like he did at the end of that last conversation..."

KK: "Don't get too wigged out about it."

Edd (looks ill): "Frightened me to no end..."

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The Secret of Edd part 2

Date: August 1st, 2001

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"AHH! I _HATE_ YOU!"

Edd winced as Eddy screamed somewhere in the distance. He looked out the window towards Eddy's house. There, Eddy slammed his door behind him, yelling at someone in the building.

Edd shook his head and closed the window. "Eddy's temper and voice can be _so_ annoying at times..." He muttered, then went to his desk and took out the immunization put in there the day before.

"Now, what are you?" he asked it, then chuckled at his usual habit of talking to himself. It certainly bought him strange looks when he was away from people who knew him well...

Edd squirted three drops, one onto each of the dishes on his desk, and brought all of his lab stuff to his garage.

Once there, he set up a small lab and did experiments to the separate dishes. As he looked at the glowing green liquid, black semi-liquid, and clear liquid in the dishes, he grew puzzled.

"None of the chemicals are even familiar to me. How could this be a tetanus booster?" Edd mused, then gasped as he bumped the table.

The different liquids splashed into each other and flowed over the table. White foam grew from the wood the small amount of liquid touched.

"Oh dear! Messy, messy, messy... and just what is this stuff?" Edd complained as he cleaned it up. "I just don't understand..." He then carefully gathered a sample of the infected wood, then stuck everything into carefully sterilized bags. Edd then walked up to his room and put everything away. Just after he finished he heard Eddy scream again, but from below Edd's window this time.

"Ow...," Edd muttered, racing to the window. "Eddy, keep it down out there!" he exclaimed as Ed and Eddy walked in the house, _with_ their dirty shoes on.

Edd ran down the stairs to find mud all over the kitchen floor, Ed crying, and Eddy looking furious. "Eddy! You guys tracked mud all over the house, and, um, what's wrong…?" He ended softly, looking and feeling nervous.

"WHAT'S WRONG? What's wrong? What isn't wrong! I'm leaving, Double D! And I might never be able to come back!" Eddy yelled.

"Leaving? Are you running away?" Edd asked as he walked to the dinner table.

Eddy collapsed on a chair. "I'm leaving... my parents are making me leave in one week. THIS SUCKS!"

"You're moving? Away from Peach Creek? FOREVER?" Edd exclaimed, looking positively terrified.

"How do I know? All I know is my parents told me I'm leaving because I have 'attitude' problems, and that I have to pack my stuff, and, and... I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!" Eddy cried, and Ed hugged him. Instead of pulling away, Eddy hugged Ed back and started sobbing.

Edd walked over and joined the hug, and they all stood there for several minutes, crying and standing together.

Edd wiped the tears from his eyes and sat on the table. "Well, what will we do now? We only have one week, and we should enjoy as many jawbreakers as we can. Unless..." he paused and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

Ed stared at him, then Eddy. "Uh, why don't we go to the planet of the mutant sausages, where we could enlist the help of the gravy people to make your parents--" Ed said.

"Shut up, Ed." Eddy interrupted.

"Another world?" Edd remarked rather dreamily, and Eddy glanced at him, startled at how spaced out Double D sounded. "Ed, where did you get an idea like that? It'd be quite interesting if we could really travel to another world."

"It's in my comic book. See?" Ed held up a comic book, similar to the Invisible Man one.

"It's another one of Evil Tim's adventures."

"Isn't that the one where he does a curse, the curse you cast on us, that brought all of those birds to attack us?" Eddy asked.

"Indeed. Normally, I would have said such things degrade the mind, but considering some of the things I've seen Ed do, I'm not so sure...but it might be possible to enter an alternate universe." Edd commented.

"Like what? Pick up a house?" Eddy asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Eddy, you really must stop doing that." Edd looked down at Eddy. "I was referring to when Ed literally made you fly, and when he cut a hole into another dimension, and how he managed to convince your mind into floating when 'Jim' picked you up. He defies the laws of physics on a regular basis. Perhaps things like his "mutant sausages" really do exist. It's enough to boggle the mind..."

"That sounds stupid. Why don't we just dupe the kids into giving us money as a farewell gift to me?" Eddy suggested.

"Actually, Edd, think a minute. I can't believe I said that, but think." Edd said, smirking slightly. "If it were possible to enter another world, where the other Eds didn't scam the kids, then they'd be less suspicious of us, and it would be easier to make jawbreaker money."

"Yeah! We could have all the jawbreakers we want!" Eddy stood on his tiptoes and grabbed Edd's shoulder. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"First we would need a machine to get us from universe to universe. Ed, may I see your comic book? We could try their design." Edd said, getting down from the table and reaching his hand out.

"Here ya go, Double D." Ed commented as he handed the comic over.

"All right. Hm..." Edd looked the pictures over. "Yes, uh huh, uh huh, okay!" He pulled out a notebook and wrote some stuff down really quickly. "Here's a list of the parts we'd need to build it. I'll find a suitable location in the woods."

"The woods?" Eddy asked incredulously. "Why in the woods?"

"So none of the other kids in the cul-de-sac see it.?" Eddy made an 'Oh' expression. "Let's go." Edd replied.

"Okay dokey then." Ed replied, with a large, clueless grin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was setting, and Edd put his hammer down. He wiped his forehead with a clean handkerchief and grinned, looking up.

The machine was a round gate, about eight or nine feet in diameter, set in a base area of wood. The base set it up about three or four feet about the ground, with a small staircase in front made of chair and crate pieces nailed solidly together. The gate itself was made of various medal parts, including parts of a blender---the other parts were still littered on the ground.

The clearing they had put it in had been used for some scam or another—there were benches littered around the edge of the clearing. It was probably also where the scouts' camping trip had been a couple of weeks before.

"Viola! It's finished!" Edd exclaimed after a minute of looking it over.

"Huh?" Eddy asked, poking his head out from the other side.

"It's done, Eddy. Sadly, it's getting late and we'll have to try it out tomorrow." Edd replied.

"Darn it... then we'll only have, um--"

"Six days, Eddy."

"I knew that!"

"I am a lump!" Ed yelled from above their heads. They looked up to see Ed was sitting on the very top of the ring shape, perched like some monster, most likely.

Edd's eyes widened as he considered the gate's durability, and calculated that it wouldn't support Ed's weight for too long a time. "Ed! Get down from there this instant! You'll hurt yourself for sure!"

"Ally-ooop!" Ed exclaimed, and grabbed hold of the ring. He then swung down, and jumped off of the gate's base.

Eddy looked up sadly, then turned towards the cul-de-sac. From where they were in the woods, he couldn't even make out the lights from the houses, and wouldn't be able to until it was very dark. Now he had to go home, and deal with not yelling at his parents anymore… "Come on, guys."

"Buttered toast."

"Shut up, Ed" Eddy muttered.

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Date: August 2nd, 2001.

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Eddy collapsed against the trunk of the tree and looked up angrily. Above his head, Ed was swinging from branch to branch. "When's Sockhead gonna finish?" He exclaimed loudly, kicking the tree.

Kevin rode by on his bike, and stopped near Eddy. "What are you doing?" he asked in a rather snide tone.

"None of your beeswax, Kevin!" Eddy yelled.

"The munchkin people are coming Eddy! They're gonna munch Double D's brain and send him up to the mother ship, where they'll-"

Ed stopped abruptly as Eddy threw a large rock into Ed's mouth. Ed choked, then chewed and swallowed the rock vacantly, then realized what he had done.

"OH NO! I ate the first scout ship! Now they'll destroy Earth for sure!" Ed yelled in terror.

"Give it a rest, dork!" Kevin yelled, then sped off on his bike.

"Let's go see what's taking Double D so long, okay?" Eddy said, getting up and walking towards the door they had been sitting in front of, Edd's.

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_Edd rolled over in his sleep and murmured something. _

_He was having a nightmare, he thought, because it wasn't very realistic. All alone, without any other kids in the area… And it was dark enough to be night, but he was sure that the sun was out---just setting. _

_Edd looked up at the sky to try and locate the sun, and noticed a large round light in the sky, one not the moon _or_ the sun. It was spinning around, growing slightly, then stopped very suddenly. It quickly began spreading straight out, larger and larger, until it was a good twenty times larger than the moon. _

_As he watched, darkness spread out in a line across the light, and became a mouth that opened very wide. Edd cowered down onto the ground as he _felt_ it expand, and seem to surround the entire planet._

_After a moment of squeezing his legs to his face, Edd opened his eyes, and stood up slowly._

_Where the cul-de-sac had been were ruins, and again no sign of the kids. The forest still stood, but the trees were brown and dead, with smoke coming from the trailer park. _

_"Oh my... Is this… the apocolypse…? World's end…" Edd whispered, hugging his arms to his chest. "End of… the world…? What world…? This—this can't be real…" He began walking slowly to the center of the cul-de-sac. _

_He jumped as something snapped under his foot, and looked down. _

_The pavement was cracked and aged, as though it was a road not paved in half a century. _

_Edd lifted his foot and watched bits of glass fall off his shoe… Under his foot had been Eddy's school picture, that same one that had been in the garage sale… Or was it? The face seemed older, somehow… It wasn't the Eddy he knew, but there was _far_ too much resemblence for him to think that it was anyone else._

_A cold breeze swept through him, and Edd straightened. He became aware of the wind, filled with sounds of howling and screaming… And he heard a voice behind him. _

_Edd twirled in fright, looking for someone to be there, and heard the voices saying his nickname. "Double D... Double D..." _

_They sounded ghostly, and he couldn't help but notice that he recognized at least one of the voices… Children's voices all of them, and most noticable was Eddy's voice…_

_"Double D... DOUBLE D..." They got louder and louder, as he looked down at the picture. A guilty feeling rose up in him, as though something to all of this was his fault. "DOUBLE D! DOUBLE D!" _

_He closed his eyes, being surrounded in darkness. The voices changed slightly, and it was now only Eddy's voice he could hear._

"_Double D! Hello? Wake up already!"_

Edd rolled over again, and the blanket seemed to work its way onto his head to block out Eddy's voice… Eddy glared at the appearent insult.

"Sockhead! Wake up!" He groaned, and looked across Edd's bedroom. "Ed, would you get him up already?"

Ed nodded and walked over. "Get outta bed, mister, or no Crunchy Puffs for you!" he exclaimed, picking Edd up by the leg and shaking him vigorously.

Edd's eyes shot open as Ed shook him, and he came to awareness. "Sto-stop shaki-ing me-e E-ed, I-i'm awa-ake!" He said frantically, grabbing at Ed's hands.

"Okay, Ed. You heard him." Eddy said, and walked over to the bed. He sat on the pillow, and rested his head on his hand as he smiled sweetly—a false sweetness in his expression and voice. "_Hi_, Sleeping Beauty, sleep long enough? It's only about nine thirty…"

"WHAT? I slept in? Again?" Edd exclaimed, getting off of his bed. He looked warily down at Ed and Eddy's feet. "Eddy, YOU'VE CONTAMINATED MY ROOM! _AGAIN_!" Messy, messy, messy..."

Eddy stood and caught his arm. "Come on! You can clean your room later! We only have six days to use your machine anyway..."

"Huh? Oh my! I-I forgot, I'm sorry..." Edd trailed off, looking to the ground. The immunization will have to wait… and what about that dream…? Very strange. he thought, then looked up to ask, "Are Mother and Father here?"

Eddy shrugged. "Your parents? They left 2 hours ago. Ya know… they're weirder than you are, and that says something. Why do they have such a creepy car anyway?"

"Creepy…? Because Father is with the government, I suppose..." Edd went over to his drawer and pulled out the iron, then returned to his bed.

"Really? That's cool... um, are you done, Ed?" Eddy asked slowly.

Ed was standing by the desk, hitting himself on the head repeatedly with the bone. With his other hand he searched through the drawers.

"Ed! Leave the bone and my desk alone, alright?" Edd exclaimed, as he finished ironing the blankets. "My bed is made, Eddy, but what about my chores?"

Eddy gave Ed a weary glance, and Ed grinned. "There _aren't_ any extra sticky notes, we looked around downstairs… so let's go already."

"All right, come on Ed."

"Gravy!"

note: There actually had been one single sticky note on his desk, that neither Ed or Eddy had noticed, that read as follows:

_Dear Edward, Apologies for the incorrect instructions._

_You are to administer your vaccine today_

_-Mother_

Because Edd went straight out with the other two, he never saw the note.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, Eddy, we'll need a destination." Edd said, looking up at the structure.

"Um, how do you do it?" Eddy asked, following Edd's gaze.

"You type a number, with this pad, then press 'Enter', and it should open a gate to the world that basically exists on that, uh, plane of existance… This is all relative to some numerical order that I don't quite understand yet… That will require some time of research."

Eddy looked Edd in the eyes, and slowly asked, "Time that we don't have right now, right…? So no wandering off, trying to 'comprehend the mysteries of the universe'…"

"Mmm… Indeed." Clearing his throat, Edd shrugged. "Plus, I made a pocket activator for if the gate should close behind us." He held up what looked suspiciously like a remote control.

"How about 8-3-2-0-0-1?" Ed asked, looking at the control panel in front of him.

"Well, yes, I suppose that would work. According to this, our world's number is…" He looked at the screen, "8-3-2-0-0-9, so that one will be close to our own."

Eddy was beginning to look bored. "How's the number matter…? Can't we just go?"

Edd shook his head, and tried to explain. "The closer that number is to the one of our own world, the more similar it should be… I mean, if we went to one too different, it might be that there was no oxygen in the atmosphere and we would die instantly. Understand?"

Eddy's eyes widened at the thought of dying with this thing, and nodded silently.

Edd smiled, and finished typing in Ed's suggestion. He peered down at them, and looked confused. "Wait. Isn't that today's date? 8-3-2001? As in, the date August 3rd? Not the most original, Ed…"

"Who cares?" Eddy asked. "I want to go already!" He leaned over and pressed enter. His face lit up as a bright light filled the clearing.

Edd watched, then looked up at the gate. A spark of light seemed suspended in the circle's direct center, and stretched out until it looked like the moon.

The circle of light started spinning in place, and spreading out slowly. Half a minute passed as the trio watched the rather hypnotic swirl of pale colors spreading out until they filled the entire gate.

The boys stepped back as the light dimmed down into a light silverish color, rippled, and stopped spinning.

"My word…"

All three grinned—Edd and Eddy out of nervousness, Ed simply for the sake of grinning. Eddy stepped forward, where he grabbed a stick and tossed it onto the staircase. Nothing happened.

"We won't get zapped… C'mon, let's check this out."

Edd hung back and pulled his notebook and a pencil out of his pocket. With that, he tucked the pad against his left arm and frantically scribbled into it.

_This is absolutely incredible, I hardly have words to describe it! For a design derived from an ordinary comic book, the machine, the 'gate', appears to be working accurately… After I activated it, a light, of all things, began emitting from an unknown source in the center of the opening, and has proceeded to spin outwards and fill the boundaries established for it… Ed and Eddy step ahead, cautionless as usual, and begin up the staircase…_

_I follow after them, slowly so that I may continue writing, and… This is amazing. The light ripples almost like water as Ed sticks his hand in it… He grins, and runs in. There's no sound of him on the other side, which means… He's gone through, and didn't come out in this universe? Eddy's walking though now, and so I shall… I will not let my friends or science down!_

With that, Edd walked into the gate.

Behind him, a previously unnoticed figure walked out from behind a tree.

"Did you see that, Plank?" Jonny exclaimed in his excitement. "A hole into an alternate universe! Let's go follow them!" Tucking Plank under his arm, Jonny ran up after the other three.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edd staggered forward through the liquidish stuff into the light of the noon sun. Midday…? It was morning just now… What do you know? What, oh what, do you know… He thought, taking notes.

Eddy looked around, and looked disappointed. They stood in an identical clearing—minus certain scraps of wood and metal from the gate's construction—with even trees in the same places.

"What? We didn't even go anywhere--OW! Ed, watch it!" Eddy exclaimed as he was bumped from behind. He prepared to yell and spun around, and then he gasped and fell back. "J-Jonny? What are you doing here?"

"H-huh?" Edd stammered, whirling around as well. He took in the boy's appearance, and his wide grin. Edd shook his head. "How did you get here?"

"Plank said I should follow you guys, since you're up to something. Is this really a different world?" He asked, then looked around at the trees with the same look Eddy had just had.

"No--" Eddy started, glaring down.

"Yes, it is." Edd interrupted. Eddy looked over at him in surprise. "See how the sun is overhead? It was early in the day, and the sun was rising, in our world."

Jonny nodded, peering up, then slapped the piece of wood cheerfully. "Wow, do you see that, Plank?"

"..." If there was a reply, only Jonny heard it.

"So? The sun's above us...what the...um, isn't it only like nine or something…? How's the stupid sun above us right now?" Eddy shielded his eyes and looked.

"I already explained, Eddy. This really, truly is an alternate universe." Edd said, taking more notes and stepping down the staircase. He smiled broadly. "Let's explore the cul-de-sac and see what the differences are... From there you can see who would be best to try scamming."

Eddy nodded enthusiastically, then glanced over at Jonny. "You can come, but don't mess anything up, got it?" Jonny gave an 'L' shaped salute, and Eddy lead the group out of the clearing.

There was some yelling going on head of them, then some screaming.

"Hey, what's going on?" Eddy asked as they ran towards Ed's house.

"I don't know-- my goodness!" Edd exclaimed.

They stood behind the house, peeking around the corner. All of them stared at the source of the screaming. There another **Ed** stood, laughing wickedly and holding **Eddy** by his feet. The **Eddy **was shrieking while **Jonny** and **Kevin** begged **Ed** to let him go.

"Oh my.." Edd murmured, biting his lip. "A more confrontational bunch than ours…"

"Is that Kevin? Asking Ed to let me go? Whoa!" Eddy exclaimed.

"Look Plank! Isn't that wierd? He's friends with Eddy and Kevin, and I don't see you anywhere..." Jonny commented. He then glanced around, then crouched down and practically crawled into the bushes. The others followed quietly and carefully.

"Gravy..."

"This is rather hard to imagine… I wonder what events would have caused those two rivals to befriend one another-wait, is that the others?" Edd looked up the road, and saw most of the other cul-de-sac kids.

Ed nodded. "There's **Sarah**, and **Nazz**..."

"Umm..." Eddy snickered. "Is that Jonny," he snickered again, "looking at _Sarah_ like he likes her?" Eddy snorted, and covered his mouth as he tried to not laugh.

"Yes... and Jimmy's there walking with Nazz. Odd, isn't it?" Edd glanced back at Eddy to guage the boy's reaction.

"WHAT?" Eddy exploded, pushing Edd down to get a better view. Edd made a muffled complaint, but as his head was being pushed into the ground, it was hard to talk.

"Wow..." Jonny shook his head. "Me and Nazz…? Plank, what do you think of that, huh? Toldja she likes me better."

"Kewl!" Ed simply remarked.

Out in the street, **Nazz, Jimmy, Sarah, and Edd** had all walked up to where the other kids were. The first three had jawbreakers in their hands, and seemed nervous, while **Edd** looked bored.

**Ed** stared at them, then held out his hand. **Sarah** gave him a jawbreaker, and the kids in the bushes heard him say, "Alright, squirt, I won't beat you up... today."

She smiled nervously and quietly said something about leaving friends alone, and he dropped **Eddy**.

**Eddy **and** Kevin** scurried away immediately, while **Jonny** paused to give **Sarah** a faint grateful look, then ran after the other two.

"What's going on?" Eddy whispered, glancing at Edd.

"Well, it would appear that this 'Ed', for whatever reason, is the bully and terror of the cul-de-sac instead of Kevin. After all, he is incredably strong, and if he was smarter… and spoiled…."

"This is wierd..." Jonny muttered, shaking his head. "I like home better."

"Hee hee…" Ed laughed suddenly, and started shaking the hedge.

"Ed! Stop it!" Eddy whispered frantically, looking towards the street.

There, **Ed** stared at the bush curiously. "Let me guess…" They heard him mutter, then he grinned and beckoned to **Edd**. The two walked towards the bush, with the other kids following to see what would happen.

"Oh dear!" Edd squeaked, ducking further into the bush.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" **Ed** said cruelly, in a tone they doubted Ed could even use. He reached in, feeling around, and grabbed Eddy. The short Ed swiped at him, then swore as **Ed** held him up in the air.

"Didn't get enough earlier? Where are your little friends? If you don't tell, I'll beat all three of you up, regardless of what I said earlier."

"No way!" Eddy exclaimed, still squirming in his grasp. The other kids in the street gasped, and **Ed** grinned.

"All right then, are they hiding in here too? Let's see..." **Ed** held Eddy out, and reached in with his free hand to grab Jonny; who dropped Plank in his fright. "Hold him, okay?" He told **Edd**, thrusting Jonny towards him. The boy easily grabbed Jonny and held him, no matter how much Jonny wriggled. Eddy looked over in shock at the boy who looked just like Double D-except that he had _muscles_!

"And where's that last kid…" **Ed** reached in, then caught hold of a shoulder. He grinned. "Ah, _here_ we—Whoa!" He yelled, staring, as he pulled Edd out.

The other Edd jumped in shock, letting go of Jonny and not caring. Jonny quickly dashed for the bushes and sat on the grass, watching.

"U-um, h-hello..." Edd stammered, shaking. He glanced over at the hedge behind him when the other kids gasped again.

Ed now poked his head out and looked at **Ed**, then Edd. "Who's that good-lookin' fella?" he asked Edd, grinning idiotically. Edd closed his eyes in a quick, silent prayer as **Ed'**s hand left his shoulder.

The other **Ed** dropped Eddy and stared. "No way… He looks just like me..."

"Hiya!" Ed exclaimed.

"U-uh, Eddy, I hadn't planned on us being seen with our counterparts... This could _seriously_ alter this world's timeline.." Edd said nervously, looking at the astonished crowd befor him.

"Oh, who cares, Sockhead. They already saw you and Lumpy, didn't they?" Eddy asked as he walked towards the other kids and stared at them. "Not a whole lot we can do now."

The group backed away nervously. **Sarah** glanced back and forth between the Eds while Edd and **Edd** looked at each other.

"Who… are you?" **Edd** asked, staring intently.

"I'm--- you, from another universe." Edd said softly.

"I-I-if you guys are from another universe.. why are you here? And where's Kevin?" **Jimmy** asked. "You two and him are friends, so-"

"No way, I'm not!" Eddy exclaimed. He shook his head. "Don't even go there…"

Edd chuckled at Eddy's expression. "You, friends with Kevin. That still seems rather unexpected, doesn't it?"

"You aren't friends with him?" **Nazz** asked, looking confused.

Eddy looked sidelong at her, and she winced slightly. "Are you _kidding_? I hate the guy! No, I'm friends with Lumpy and Sockhead here, not Kevin." He gestured at Ed and Edd.

"Yeah, cause we're the Eds!" Ed said.

"Indeed. 'Ed, Edd. and Eddy', as Eddy likes to call us, or the 'Ed boys' according to Rolf--Where _is_ Rolf, anyway?" Edd asked. He glanced around, not seeing the foreigner in the area. No one noticed the question, though.

"Hmm... so in your world, you're friends with me?" **Ed** asked Eddy. "That's very good taste. Maybe I won't beat you up. In fact…" He put a hand up to his mouth, thinking.

"Well, yes, Ed is one of our friends… But he seems…" Edd looked at Ed, who was eating part of the bush. Edd turned greenish, then turned back to the other **Ed**. "…less intellectualy endowed than you. He's, well--"

"--An idiot." Eddy commented.

"Eddy! Any way, he's simply…Ed… and I'm more of a scientist-"

"A nerd..." Eddy put in again.

Edd crossed his arms---not a frightening gesture for a person standing in a bush—and glared at Eddy. "Will you stop interupting?"

"Make me, Double D." Eddy retorted in a sing-song voice, grinning broadly.

**Edd**, off to the side, watched the exchange in bemusement---why wasn't his double just punching the kid in the gut? That would make him shut up…

"No." Edd replied, to **Edd's** disappointment. "But if you're _that_ knowledgable about the citizens of Peach Creek, _you_ describe it---and without distorting reality too much."

"Okay then..." Eddy looked angrily at Edd, then continued. "What we have is Monobrow here, who's an idiot, Sockhead, who's a nerd, me, who's a handsome and attractive young man--"

"Oh, brother..." Edd muttered to himself, looking up. "And only _slightly_ egotistical..."

"Huh?" Eddy looked over, to see Edd whistling innocently. "Whatever... and Kevin, who's a just like the local jerk… Sarah, she's a little whiny brat who's always crying to her mom whenever we do anything she doesn't like… Jimmy, a little wimp who's always with Sarah, Nazz, who's –well, a chick…"

**Nazz** blushed and **Edd** snickered. He smiled impishly, and mouthed 'Nazz, yer a chick…!' **Ed** batted him in the back of the head, and **Edd** resentfully stopped flirting.

"Rolf, who's some wierd foreign farm… guy… Jonny, who's really sorta loopy and just, like, talks to random stuff-"

"Plank isn't stuff!" Jonny exclaimed angrily. "Right Plank? PLANK?" He looked around, realizing that Plank wasn't there, and his eyes widened. "Where's Plank?"

"Okay, so who's Plank?" **Ed** asked, his eyebrow raising slowly.

"Oh dear… Eddy, help me look." Edd remarked as he turned around to search through the hedge.

"Plank's some a piece of wood with a face painted on it that Jonny talks to, acting like he's being answered and all. The guy's wierd like that." Eddy explained as Edd and Jonny searched around.

"PLANK! There you are!" Jonny exclaimed, picking Plank up.

The other kids stared. "That's… really wierd..." Jimmy said, nodding to what Eddy had said. The others nodded as well, and **Edd** grinned.

"You've gotta be kidding… Since Kevin's not friends with him, he had to make one up…?" **Edd** wanted to know, shaking his head.

Jonny ignored the comments, looking Plank over. "Why didn't you say something? I didn't realize you were stuck!"

A few seconds went by, while the rest of the kids just stared at the reunion. Even the kids used to it watched, aware of the strangeness that the others were feeling.

"That's rather amusing, actually..." **Ed** commented to **Edd**, "Don't you think?"

**Edd** only snorted, covering his face with one hand.

**Ed** looked over at the three Eds. "I've never seen anything quite like that... Hey, tell ya what. As a 'reward' for being friends with such a good lookin' guy," He gestured at Ed--who was being remarkably still. "And for showing me something rather… funny… I'll give each of you five bucks. That okay?"

Eddy stared in shock, his eyes bulging out.

Edd looked surprised. But… we didn't even do anything… Odd that he goes from bully to generous so quickly…

**Ed** was pulling four $5 bills out of his pocket, and gave one to each Ed and one to Jonny.

Jonny finished talking to Plank and looked puzzled. "Hey, what about Plank? He should get some money too!"

**Ed** and **Edd** burst out laughing. **Ed** grinned. "Jeez! This is a good idea you have, kid! Does 'Plank' get allowence, as well as you?"

"Of course he does! Why wouldn't he?" Jonny demanded.

**Edd**'s eyes widened, and he gave a hooting sound suddenly. The four not from his universe looked alarmed, the rest seemed calm. "This kid gets twice as much money just because he talks to a piece of wood! Maybe I should have an imaginary friend, and Mother'll give me twice as much too!"

"Okay, here's some for 'Plank' too.." **Ed** said, snickering. Jonny took it, glaring at **Ed**'s obvious grin, and murmured something to Plank.

Edd pocketed the five-dollar bill, and looked at his watch. "It hasn't even been very long… I suppose we can all talk some more."

Eddy sighed, then shrugged. "Hey, why not? If we've got plenty of time…" He sat down in the grass, and looked up at the **Eds**. "So, what else do you guys wanna know?"

**Ed** shrugged as well, and led the rest of the kids in sitting down too. "You didn't finish describing people…"

"And how did you _get_ here anyway?" **Edd** leaned forward, curious. "I really wanna know, theories on the existence of a multiverse containing our universe as a small part of it is a big topic this year…"

The other kids looked over as he spouted in an entirely Edd-like fashion, and Eddy started laughing. "Heh… Double D, it's not so different…"

**Edd** was confused, and Edd annoyed. He recognized Eddy's tone of voice, and knew Eddy was making fun of him. "Oh… Eddy, what was that supposed to mean?"

"That wherever you go, Double D is too smart for his own good." Ed mused smiling.

Edd groaned. "Honestly… Well, we were rather bored yesterday, and decided to test the, uh, accuracy of one of Ed's favorite comic books… So we decided to build a machine like the one in the illustrations…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

They spent well over two hours there, discussing how they built the gate, the reasons that had lead to the wanting to build one… Ed brought up the Kankers at some point, to find out that there _were_ three sisters in the trailer park of that world, but that there hadn't been any 'romantic' encounters… **Ed** and **Edd** had started laughing at the thought of it, for some reason.

"Well, we should be getting home, Eddy. I think it's nearly lunch time, and I should be doing my chores soon." Edd commented.

"But it's two o'clock, how could it be lunch time...?" **Sarah** asked.

Eddy shrugged. "Different times, who cares?" He grinned at Edd. "You're right, we should be going so we can gloat to Kevin when we get some jawbreakers!"

**Ed** looked a little disappointed. "Well, your 'gate' probably isn't going anywhere, so make sure you come back. I want to hear more about your world." While Edd nodded, he glanced over to **Edd**. "If that's that… What do you want to do?"

**Edd** looked up curiously then grinned at the sight of Eddy. "There's always the little 'triad' to go after… Maybe if we bait them with a 'Plank', they'll come out…?"

**Ed** snickered, as Jonny glared at him again. "Cute idea, real cute, Double D… Awright, we can check that out… See you lot around sometime." He waved lazily at the group, and the two walked off. The other kids got the signal, said various farewells, and also left.

"Okay, let's go." Eddy commented, then turned towards Ed's house.

"Jonny, I trust you won't be following us any more, correct?" Edd asked as they walked through the trees.

"Probably not, those guys were too rude. What's that Plank?" He asked.

The others glanced at him. "Okay, then… Plank says to be careful. You never know what could happen in another world, and, --whoa!" He slipped suddenly, falling forward.

"Ow!" Edd exclaimed as Jonny fell on him, then Ed on him.

Eddy snickered, and helped pull Ed up. "You okay under there, Double D…?"

"Yes..." He winced as he pulled Plank off of his arm—there was a dent there, certainly—and looked up. Jonny turned red and rolled off of him.

"Sorry about that…" He said, accepting Plank back.

"Well, it's actually a good thing you fell. This is the clearing the gate is in." Edd commented, as he climbed to his feet. He pulled out the controller.

Eddy got up. "But, it's not here, Double D… Hey!" Edd pressed a button, and the gate appeared before them.

"Let's go home." He simply said, then walked into the gate.

Eddy ran after him, then Ed.

Jonny watched them run into the gate. He then paused and listened to Plank.

_/If they keep this up, they'll unlock supernatural forces they can't understand.../_ Plank murmured.

"Really? You think they'll unlock supernatural forces? How?"

_/Well, not so much 'supernatural forces', but, a world of impossibilities_./

"A world of impossibilities?" Jonny shook his head. "That doesn't make any more sense than what you said before… What's that _mean_, Plank?"

_/Um… I don't really know either… I'll have to tell you some other time_./

Jonny frowned at the piece of wood, then looked ahead. "Oh, fine. Explain later. That's not very polite, you know."

_/I'm sorry, but I _really_…/_

"Oh, heh, that's okay, Plank. I'll race ya home!" With that, Jonny gave a good-natured grin and ran into the gate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eds ran down the street.

You next see them, coming out of the candy store, with three _very_ large bags of jawbreakers. Ed was carrying all three bags, while Edd and Eddy gave the bunch _very_ happy looks.

"I can't believe this! 10 jawbreakers each and we each still have $4.50 each! We'll be eating jawbreakers for weeks! Oh, wait... you guys will, anyway..." Eddy said, trailing off rather dismally.

"Leggo my Eggo!" Ed exclaimed from under the three bags.

The cul-de-sac came into view, and Eddy sighed.

"I suppose we'll be meeting here tomorrow?" Edd asked.

"Yeah, yeah..." Eddy muttered, still looking a bit gloomy until Ed put the bags down and a jawbreaker rolled out. "Watch it, Ed!" He exclaimed, and grabbed it.

"Double D, did the munchkin people get you earlier?" Ed asked absently.

"Huh?" Edd looked confused.

"Never mind... You don't want to know." Eddy commented.

"Alright then... I'll see you guys later!" Edd walked across the street to his house and walked inside.

He gathered the regular sticky notes, did his normal chores, and ate lunch. By 3:49 he finished, and went to his room to experiment on the shot some more.

As he went to grab it, he put the bag on top of his desk, covering the bone and the note.

"Why can't I figure out what you are?" He asked himself, getting a jawbreaker to eat while thinking. He went down to the garage and made another lab, where he did different tests on it. By the end of the day, he was no closer to an answer, as well as tired.

"Oh, I give up. I'll simply ask mother some time this week when I have a chance..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The End of Part 2

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed: "When you don't know what something is, ask. Most stuff will just speak right up!"

Ed grins, and Eddy raises his eyebrows... Edd groans.

Edd: "I talk to my_self_, I didn't honestly expect the substance to answer me."

Eddy (Teasing): "Sure thing... And nice dream, Double D. I knew you guys were dreaming of me..."

Edd (Bright red, pulls hat down): "Oh, shush. Just you remember, in that universe I was a b-bully, and spent my time picking on you like Kevin does."

Eddy: "So?"

Edd: "So---I could always go to him and ask for help!"

Eddy: "..."

Edd: "..."

Ed: "...I could tickle Eddy?"

Edd and Eddy blink, looking over at him.

Edd: "Well, yes, but... Why?"

Ed (smiling): "Eddy gets all red and squirmy when you hold him and tickle him... and mad when you let go."

Eddy (sweating): "Well, don't. That's... really annoying."

Ed walks away, a content smile on his face.

Edd: "Ed, where are you going?"

Ed: "Food..."

Ed leaves the room, and Edd rubs the back of his head.

Edd: "I hope he doesn't empty out the fridge... Ah well."

Eddy: "So... Double D. With other universes, they get made from all the different things that could happen, right? Like these guys won _this_ war in this universe, but in another, the other side did?"

Edd (smiling): "Yes, indeed! Are you growing interested in alternate universes now?"

Eddy: "Uh—hang on. Is it just big things, or is it anything that could happen has a different universe?"

Edd (contemplative, sits on his bed to think) "Well... depends on the theory. Some people, like Ms Diane Wynne Jones, go with the major possibilities and say the minor differences are only in our dreams. Our author, though is working with the idea of _every_ possibility... A multiverse of infinite possibilities."

Eddy (nodding): "What, the two of you sneaking off and having meta… uh… well, talking about those kinds of things while me and Ed are just two dummies making sandwiches or something?"

Edd (grimaces now): "No, it's simply that while she's not present, I'm aware of her view on the matter. ...There were only a few such conversations. At any rate, Eddy, why were you curious?"

Eddy: "Well, you're gonna have to explain how the numbers work eventually... I just wanted to know if, if my homework didn't get done, would there be another universe where it _was_ done, so I could go there, and that me let me me copy his homework?"

Edd (buries head in his hands): "This is the reason for your curiosity, I should have known... Yes, you theoretically could. But we don't currently have the technology to know which worlds are like what. For now we get to simply wander about and bump into things."

Eddy: "Driving without a map... Oh well. That woulda worked out nice, I think."

Edd (dryly): "You _would_ think so... And to go back on topic of this last chapter, the multiverse is both all the infinite possibilities and at least some impossibilities, too, if you remember Plank's comment."

Eddy (rolls back, snickering): "'Plank's comment'... Oh, man, Double D, for you to say that so seriously, like Plank was actually talking..."

Edd: "...Well... That's a matter for later. We _are_ AU, after all—alternate universe than that of the show itself. I think on the relativity scale that the gate's currently operating with, they'd be around Two Nine Two Two Three Seven..."

Eddy (blinks): "What? We're using all numbers with the Eights, and didn't you say something about worlds where we couldn't breath?"

Edd: "I said that _In-character_, Eddy. But that me doesn't have any idea how it works, because you forbade him from doing more intrinsic research. I _do_ know, and I'll probably have a private one of these conversations with KK just to try and explain it to anyone interested."

Eddy (nods): "Well, _I_ don't care anymore. I'm gonna go grab some food before Ed eats it all."

Edd (dryly again): "And make sandwiches while Kitty and I discuss—ow!"

Eddy had thrown a pillow at him, and bolted down the stairs.

Edd: "...Honestly. Well, people, again please review—I need to go stop them from leaving my parents and I hungry again. Until next time...!"


	3. The Other World

The Secret of Edd Part 3

Date: August 3rd, 2001

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edd yawned, stretched, and looked around. It was 5:24, and he had already woken up three times.

"I'll never get back to sleep... I might as well start cleaning my room now." He muttered, and sighed.

With that, he got out up and proceeded to make his bed and disinfect his room again. He then took a shower and got dressed. It was now 5:58.

Edd stared at the clock. "It's only..." he groaned. "This is going to be a long wait until they wake up, if I know Eddy. What can I do until then?" He sat down and grimaced, then curled up as his stomach lurched.

There were sounds of a car starting in the garage, and then drive off, but Edd paid it no attention, trying to convince his stomach to settle itself… It wasn't normal to feel sick like that.

After sitting against the wall for several minutes, and trying a few conventional things, he gave up. Edd walked downstairs and sat on a chair, pulled out a jawbreaker and sucked on it. Remarkably, that seemed to help, and he was filled with more respect for the sugar spheres.

He gazed at the clock, and considered what they could do that day… They already had plenty of money, so any otherworldly scamming would really be for the fun of it. Edd had been thinking for about a rather _long_ amount of time when he froze, hearing noises outside.

The back door slammed open and two pairs of footsteps walked around downstairs. They went up the stairs, then came back to the staircase.

He looked up as the two silhouettes approached, and a light suddenly turned on.

"Hiya, Double D!" Ed exclaimed as he walked over.

"See ya didn't sleep late today, huh Sockhead?" Eddy asked, grinning.

"Very funny Eddy. What are you two doing awake so early today?" Edd asked, standing up slowly.

/All right… I feel a little better, but motion isn't helping…/ he thought, biting his lip as the world swirled somewhat around him.

Eddy nodded as he pulled out a jawbreaker. "What'd ya think? We got FIFTEEN BUCKS in that other one! Of course we're going again!"

"We should try another world, the world of the Bunion people awaits us, after all..." Ed said slowly and solemnly.

Edd looked over, and decided to give in to a desire that filled him pretty much any time Ed talked-to ask what he was talking about. "What on Earth are 'Bunion people' anyway?"

"The Bunion people are-"

"No, no, no…! Ed, no one really cares, Sockhead, drop it… Not now." Eddy said, then pulled out a jawbreaker. "Are we going, or not? Those jawbreakers won't buy themselves!" With that, he stuck the jawbreaker in his mouth and smiled.

"Don't leave me behind, guys!" Ed yelled as he ran after them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonny stopped running around the cul-de-sac circle when he saw Edd's door being opened again, and the trio coming out. He went over to them, watching them walk by. "Are you guys going-exploring-again?"

Eddy nodded, glancing nervously at Kevin and the others. "Yeah, uh… Just back into the woods, nothing special…"

Kevin held the football he and Rolf had been passing in order to watch them. Rolf eyed them irritably, but didn't say anything. Edd and Eddy winced at the thought of roosters that popped up in their heads.

"What are you up to?" Kevin asked suspiciously.

"Nothing that will affect you, Kevin, do you don't have to worry about it." Edd commented, and walked by towards the wood behind Ed's house.

Eddy stuck his tongue out, only for his jawbreaker to fall on the ground.

Kevin started snickering, and Rolf grinned. "Poor Ed-boy lost his jawbreaker, no?" Rolf asked as he started laughing. "Poor Ed-boy.. He probably stole for the money of that candy, no?"

"Nah, me? Steal? Besides, it's not a big deal." Eddy said, grinning at the two as he pulled out another jawbreaker. "Smell ya later, guys!" He followed Edd towards the woods, and pulled Ed's arm. "Come on, Lumpy!"

Kevin and Rolf stared. "He had another with him…? Odd." Rolf remarked.

Kevin shook his head. "Where'd he _get_ those jawbreakers..? D-did they break into my garage again..?" He looked alarmed, and ran over to the garage door to check it out. Rolf followed him, with a final glance in the direction the Eds had gone in.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, what number should we use today?" Edd asked Eddy curiously, glancing over at him.

"Um, well, it started, with 8-3-, um, -2..." Eddy commented, looking up and trying to remember the rest of the numbers-it really hadn't mattered to him.

"8-3-2! Got it, Eddy!" Ed exclaimed, and went over to the keyboard, typing the three in.

"Wait Ed! That's not even close to our number, DON'T PRESS ENTER!" Edd yelled frantically, waving his arms for Ed to stop.

Ed pressed enter.

The gate opened far quicker than it did before, causing a huge gust sucking them towards it. Edd grabbed a tree so he wouldn't slide forward.

"E-eddy-y! We-e shouldn't be go-oing in the-ere!" Edd haltingly yelled as the wind swirled around and made him lose his hold on the tree.

"Who cares! Let's just check it out!" Eddy yelled back as he walked towards the gate, beckoning for Ed and Edd to follow. Ed got up from where he was sitting and walked forward with no difficulty.

I have a bad feeling about this; I don't want to go into _this_ light... Edd thought as he carefully approached the gate.

Ed waited until Edd passed him, then followed Edd and Eddy, and all three walked into the light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_/Don't go in there, don't enter that world/_ Planktriedto yell toEdd from where he and Jonny were. Either Edd didn't hear him, or ignored him, for he walked forward into the gate.

Jonny looked down at Plank with a concerned expression on his face.

"Plank? Why didn't you answer me?"

"They went? What do you mean by that, buddy?" Jonny asked.

"You're scared? What could happen...? Or did they go in that world you were talking about yesterday?"

"You _think_ so? But you don't know? This is really confusing, Plank..."

"That's okay, I'm not mad. But tell me if something else comes up, K?"

They went back to playing, but much of Plank's mind was on the Eds, and what they were doing...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, what… That didn't feel at all like the other time, that _hurt_! Edd gasped and held his head.

Eddy caught him when he staggered through. "You okay?"

"Well, I believe I have a severe migraine, but other than that I'm fine." Edd picked his head up slowly. "Where?--- my goodness--"

Edd straightened and stared at the view before him.

The first thing that came to mind, as he looked out, was his dream. The forest was gone, the sky gray and overcast, except where you could occasionally see the full moon in a dark, blood-red sky. There were small shapes flying far overhead, not birds, or planes, but something he had never seen before. He turned towards the cul-de-sac, or where it had been. There were ruins there, and the dump was huge, spewing out the smoke responsible for the gray sky.

Ed walked by towards the ruins, and Edd and Eddy ran down the stairs after him.

"Whoa, this looks like the planet of the blue people from 'I was a small alien blue person', the mini series, where robots had sent their space vampires to take over the world, use people as slaves, and take others to change them into minions of evil." Ed said, looking skyward.

"Considering the circumstances, I don't think I'd be surprised..." Edd whispered.

"NESTOR!" Ed suddenly yelled, and ran forward. There, the rooster was flying around in search of food.

"Is that the stupid chicken again?" Eddy complained.

Edd paused, watching the bird flapping. "How is that rooster _flying_? The bone and muscle structure isn't strong enough to support one's weight..."

Eddy glanced over at him. "Why are we standing here, talking about a chicken?"

"Nestor! You can fly!" Ed exclaimed from off to the side, hugging the bird.

Edd looked blankly forward, putting a hand to his mouth. "I don't _know_... But wasn't Nestor the name of one of Ed's seagulls that he held captive in his room?"

Eddy now blatantly stared. "You _remember_ things like that?"

While the two looked at each other, Ed walked over to him, the bird still in his arms. They both turned to him, and simply watched him in confusion.

"Guys, this is Nestor the second." Ed introduced happily, smiling at them both. "Nestor, these are my friends, Double D and Eddy. Guys, say 'Hi, Nestor'."

"Um, yes… hi, Nestor..." Edd said, rather hesitantly. He shrugged, and continued looking around the area they were in.

"Eddy, say 'Hi, Nestor." Ed said patiently.

Eddy rolled his eyes. "Ed, we have better things to do than talk to-"

"SAY HI TO NESTOR!" Ed yelled. The boy's eyes had bugged out, and both of his friends jolted to stare in a kind of fright at him. When Ed got this intent on something… dangerous things happened.

"H-hi, Nestor... cualquirer..." Eddy muttered as he shook his head, then glanced over at Edd. Now Edd was acting weird, too, as his eyes widened and seemed to sparkle at him-Eddy cringed.

"Eddy, you know Spanish? Then¿Dónde estamos nosotros?" Edd asked, absolutely delighted by the idea.

"Huh?" Eddy wondered, then shook his head. "I just know that cualquirer is 'whatever'. My brother told me that knowing other languages is a good way to attract the ladies."

"Oh." Edd said, looking slightly depressed. "I only know a small amount, my lessons haven't been the most productive yet…"

"Uh, yeah…" Eddy didn't want to keep talking about languages, how boring **was** that anyway? So he shrugged again. "Anyway, it doesn't look like we'll make much money here, huh?"

Edd shook his head…in agreement. "I don't think so, because-"

"GUYS! DUCK!" Ed yelled suddenly, dropping the chicken and pulling them to the ground.

An extremely large bat flew inches over their heads and turned into a familiar human, or more accurately, vampire.

"**_Kevin_**?" The three exclaimed simultaneously, staring up at him.

The boy was clothed in black, although minus the cape the outfit itself wasn't unlike what the Kevin they knew wore. His hair was longer, down to about his shoulders, and of course there was how pale his skin was…

He grinned, revealing two fangs. "Well, what do you know? The dorks are alive."

'Kevin' landed, looking the group over. "And all of you are human, very strange… I had thought that you--" His gaze rested on Ed, then Edd, and after a pause, on Eddy. "Alive after all this time?" The concept seemed especially puzzling, and then he shrugged. "Strange."

"Wha-what…" Eddy stammered, stepping back. Ed hissed for him to stay still, but that was enough… 'Kevin' had seen the fear, looked amused, and stretched slightly.

"…I guess I'll have to do something about that _human_ thing, won't I?"

The vampire lunged towards them, arms shaped into wings, and the Eds scattered. Ed's brain went through everything he knew about vampires, while Edd yanked the controller out of his pocket.

"Eddy, LOOK OUT!" He screamed as Kevin flew at Eddy. He ducked and rolled out of the way, and Kevin flew over him again, then pulled up to study them for a few seconds.

Edd pushed a button and the gate reappeared a short distance off, about 50 feet. "Get to it!" He yelled to the others. They got to their feet and started moving as quick as they could.

Ed and Eddy booked and Edd came close behind._ /This could be it…! Guys, wait up.. Or let me run faster, because I daren't look back to see where he is/_ he thought frantically as he tried to keep up. The sounds let him know that Kevin was just behind him, and ahead he could see the others go through. Time seemed to slow as he ran forward.

_/I wonder… What would happen if a person died in another universe…? To their soul…? I'd rather not find out… But there's only 20 feet left… 10… I can do this/_ Went through his mind idly as his feet reached to their full potential.

He could feel the pressure of Kevin approaching behind him somehow, and could hear everything around him. Everything. Vastly distant howling, explosions years in the past, _everything _he ever had nightmares of and the realization that if he fell, it was over. The others couldn't get through the gate unless they pressed enter again--a safe guard he had added in case someone was hostile and came through--so they could get pushed to the other side and be unable to return… That 'safe guard' now meant that no one else could help him.

All of that awareness passed through his mind in a millisecond… then time started again. He braced, ducking down, and took the final leap.

Edd jumped through the gate and pressed a button as he fell through. The gate vanished behind him, and the vampire Kevin stopped in mid air, examining the area before him.

"How did they do that…?"

He landed, looking at where the gate had been for a moment, thinking. Memory seemed to come to surface, but the frown didn't leave his face. He had no competition in the region, so a habit of talking to himself had started up.

"They were… very human. Too young, much too young to be from here…" A shrug, and a fang-revealing smile spread across his lips.

"Oh well... I'll find other prey. Heh heh heh heh heh..." He couldn't help chuckling; seeing human Eds was a nostalgic experience, reminding him of how much this world had changed in the last half-century.

Kevin spread his arms, which changed again to wings, and flew towards the moon with the wind howling below him. It may not have even been the wind, werewolves instead, but he didn't care. It wouldn't affect _him_, after all… _That_ conflict had been called to a truce years before.

There was a graveyard to the north, not far from where the hospital was, or rather had been. It had been more than three decades since humans had been considered the dominant species of the planet, after all. The hospital had become an area where zombies tended to gather. They usually had living guests with them, and of all the creatures around, they were the worst at guarding their prey.

Perhaps some food there…? It'd be worth a look…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

On the other side, Ed was pouting. Pouting, and whining. And complaining, all these at once, while he tried to convince Eddy that they go back, and how they could so very easily survive.

"If we just had a wibble whacker, a few stakes, and a cotton swab dipped in garlic juice, we could have destroyed the vampire and brought Nestor with us, as well as explored more."

Eddy stared at him. "Ed, are you an idiot?" After thought came to mind, and he held up a hand. "Actually, don't answer that. But going back there would be plain stupid!"

He looked over to see Edd stumble out of the gate, then sit abruptly on the top stair. "What's wrong?"

Edd's skin was a bit greenish, and he was holding his head in his hands, the remote pushed off to the side. His hands dropped, revealing an odd look on his face, one that Eddy couldn't recognize on his friend. "I-I don't feel well, I-I think that e-experience fri-frightened me t-too much..."

Eddy nodded slowly. "Yeah, that was really freaky." He commented, and then gave Edd a good look again.

/He **really** doesn't look good… Man… I don't think it's just him being afraid… Wonder what happened in there./

They all stayed there for a moment while they each recovered, and Ed started jumping up and down. "Well--Let's go somewhere else! Let's go somewhere else!"

Eddy groaned. "Oh, c'mon Ed, give it a few minutes, would you?"

Ed pouted again, and looked up towards Edd. While Ed watched, Edd breathed rhythmically, calming down, and pulled a small notebook out of his pocket

"Mmmmm…" A low growl or hum came from Edd's throat, an apparent sound of deep thought. In bored frustration Ed sat stubbornly on a stump, crossing his arms.

…Right… Eddy shook his head, then climbed over to Edd. "You sure you're okay?"

Not stopping the pencil, Edd looked up (Eddy really envied that ability, with that he could watch girls in class **and** take notes) and shook his head. "I… I'm not sure…"

"Mmm… Well, don't go getting sick." A thought occurred to them both, and the two paled. "Don't think it was something in the air there, do you?"

Edd shivered, the pencil finally paused in its scribbling, and put the to items away. "Goodness, I hope not… It all looked look… I don't know, a nuclear war had taken place years ago… and a vampire… who knows what might have been there. I took that idea in mind with this," He gestured at the gate, "with thoughts of things such as… oh, transporters in the Star Trek series, but something that we'd know nothing about…"

"Cross our fingers that wasn't it?" Eddy suggested, standing and stretching. The two walked down the stairs.

"Pretty much…" Edd replied. Ed's boredom caught their attention, and Edd sighed. "All right… But I must insist that I choose the world this time."

"Why can't I?" Ed complained, standing from the stump with a puzzled expression.

"I can't say that I'll trust your judgment for this again, Ed."

"Oh." Ed said thoughtfully. "What's a judgment? Is it a terrible disease? That puts you under the control of--"

"Oh no, let's just go before Ed starts spouting again..." Eddy muttered, then pointed to the control panel. "Come on, Double D."

"Certainly. Let's see, 8-3-2-0, then, I'll do, -1-7." He pressed these numbers, then pressed Enter, and the light filled the gate slowly.

Edd and Eddy walked forward, only for Ed to run in first.

"ED!" Eddy yelled, grinning and chasing after him.

"But, I wanted to go in first this time…!" Edd exclaimed, running into the gate in the back, again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonny walked into the clearing just in time to see them run in. "So, Plank, was that the world you were talking about?"

/_No, they already went in. Can't you feel the difference in the air? Something about that world changed ours.../_

Jonny looked puzzled. "How could it change our world? And why?"

_/I don't know, but that was the world of impossibilities. I think it's gonna cause trouble for everyone if they don't know beforehand.../_

"That's terrible! What do you think we should do?"

_/Get everyone else together and tell them./_

"Okay, let's go!"

Plank smiled. _And now to deal with the Eds… Whenever they return, that is._ He thought to himself, not commenting to Jonny.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in another part of Peach Creek, Lee was in the middle of kicking May in the back. "Get up! You have to help clean up too!"

"Yeah! You can't always be that lazy!" Marie's voice, through a window, came from outside.

May stretched unusually slowly, and continued her slow-motion thing as she stood up from the couch. "Well, what is there for me to **do**?"

Lee frowned, looking around. Thanks to a lot of soda and pizza the night before, the house was a wreck-May would have been better off by asking what she **couldn't** do. "Start by bringing these clothes outside to Marie." She commanded, dropping the pile of wet clothes in her arms onto May.

"Oh! Fine..." May muttered, moving it all into her arms so she could see, then walked to the door. "Open the door, Marie!"

The door opened and May went out, stretching her arms out to her sister. "Here's the clothes."

"Fine, then take these ones to Lee." Marie said. She put the wet clothes on the ground and gave May a large stack of dry clothes. May looked down, then shook her head and walked back in.

Inside Lee was balancing about fifteen plates in her hands, trying to get around the table.

"Stupid table! Get out of the way!" Lee exclaimed, getting ready to kick it to the side.

The table moved out of the way before she touched it.

Lee and May stared at it. It was a perfectly ordinary looking table, sitting still and seemingly incapable of self-driven movement.

"Table, come back." Lee said slowly. It slid across the floor towards her.

Staring at the table a moment, Lee looked at her sister, then at the pile of dished balanced on her arms. "Dishes, float in the air." The dishes levitated out of her hands and above the table.

"Um, clothes, go on the table..." May said hesitantly. They also floated out of her hands, only to fold themselves and land on the table.

The two slowly turned to stare at each other. May's eyes were wide open, and Lee had moved her hair out of the way to take a closer look at the objects.

"Whoa..." Lee whispered.

May nodded agreement. "This is so neat... Think Marie would do what we say too?"

Lee nodded slowly, looking towards the window. "Yeah... MARIE!" She screamed. "GET IN HERE!"

The two watched, expectantly, as a few seconds later the door opened, and Marie walked slowly in. Her movements were awkward, jerky, as if they were against her will. "Wha-why am I moving?"

"Jump up and down four times." May commanded, grinning, and motioning with her finger up and down.

Marie blinked, confused. What…? Ah! Stop it! Why am I doing that! She struggled frantically as her body started jumping.

The other two started giggling crazily.

"What's going on?" Marie exclaimed when she stopped jumping, stepping back a few feet to distance herself from them.

"Everything is doing what we say..." Lee said, dropping her hands to look around.

"Does that mean we could make our boyfriends KISS US?" May asked in her excitement. "And hug us, and give us flowers?"

Lee gave a wicked smile. "And do whatever we want to get revenge on people. Not Marie, though, 'cause sisters need to stick together, but everyone else..."

May nodded in agreement with the sister remark, and winked at Marie. "Yeah, we can make Double D do whatever you want. Just be nice to me, and we can _do_ that… This is so cool!"

Another voice came from outside the trailer. "Um, May? Marie? Lee? Are you in there? I need to talk to you..." Jonny asked cautiously.

May and Lee started grinning evilly, and Marie half-smiled nervously in an attempt to go along with things; she still had no idea what was happening.

"Our first victim..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Eddy stared around in shock, and Edd rubbed his head.

Edd's headache was receding, but he still didn't feel well. He looked up and gazed dumbly at the site before them. Somehow, they were standing in the middle of the cul-de-sac, instead of the woods.

Only two people were in sight, _Eddy_ and _Rolf_. They looked exactly like the _Eddy_ and _Rolf_ of their own world, and even the scene seemed familiar... _Rolf_ was chasing _Eddy_, who had some money in his hands.

As they watched, _Eddy_ ran into his house, and _Rolf_ stopped running, out of breath.

"Why must Eddy persist in stealing from me?" _Rolf_ moaned aloud, clearly enough for the three to hear, sighed and turned around.

Ed, Edd, and Eddy stood there, nervously looking at him.

_Rolf_ stared at Eddy, turned towards the house, and whirled around again in utter confusion. "How is Ed-boy here when he is in his home?" He demanded frantically. "Has Rolf truly departed from the world of sanity…! Curse those defane devices, Rolf knew that now good would come from them--!"

"Please, Rolf, stay calm, we're from another world, we're not just figments of your imagination..." Edd said quickly, holding his hands up and stepping forward.

"Another--world?" _Rolf_ slowly asked, giving Edd a strange look.

"Yeah, another world, like… Another universe, or something. What's the big deal?" Eddy asked. He held a straight face as Rolf gave him a critical look, and inwardly snickered. Man, Rolf would've been even easier to mess with than the Ed or Double D from that other one… I should've saved that whole making-them-think-they're-insane thing for now…

"I--see... A… Another world, it is…" _Rolf_ murmured, then looked at them again. He sighed, then nodded a smiled welcomingly. "Well, then… You may come to Rolf's and tell me about this other world, and I will tell you about here... Yes?"

They walked across the street to _Rolf's_ house and went inside. All four sat around the table and started to talk.

"Where we're from, I don't actually _steal_ stuff, so, uh, don't worry about that." Eddy proclaimed quickly.

"Yeah, and chickens don't fly there..." Ed pouted.

_Rolf_ looked at Ed with a puzzled look on his face. "Chickens do not fly here either, Ed-boy..."

Edd nodded, leaning forward on the table. "Then, this world is normal? We already entered one where there were vampires, and it wasn't at all pleasant..."

"'Normal'?" Rolf started, then grimaced slightly. "No, truthfully, we have been having-"

Squealing and sudden clucking started outside. The Eds glanced to the side, confused, and Rolf became upset.

"And again?" He murmured, then walked quickly to the back door. The boys glanced at each other, and then ran to the door to look at the backyard.

Wilfred and a chicken--Gertrude, Ed could recognize--were backing towards the house, with a large lizard in front of them.

It was about the size of a crocodile, completely orange in color, and there was smoke coming out of its mouth. Its eyes weren't very focused, giving it a rather stupid appearance. It tilted its head, studying the pig and chicken curiously.

Ed gasped, whether in shock or delight none of them could tell. "It is a fire-breathing sun lizard from the salamander zoo!" He nodded seriously, and looked to the others to explain. "There, the strange creatures devour their young and build nests out of pine trees."

"Is that real?" Eddy asked, faintly bored sounding, and staring from the window he looked out of.

Edd nodded, looking slightly frantic. "I believe it _is_, somehow… Ed, how do we get it away from here before it mistakes us for its young and devours _us_?"

Ed put a finger to his lip, thinking. "Um, we need a fish, some hot dogs, and a large can to lure it away. To trap it, we'll need an atomic ray blast cage, and--"

"Getting it away from Wilfred will have to do, Ed-boy." _Rolf_ commented. "That creature has been here before; two chickens have been missing since the last time."

"All of the things you say we will need are probably here in _Rolf's_ kitchen... With luck this should be easy." Edd remarked, looking through a few cupboards with _Rolf_.

"Yeah, like when are we ever lucky?" Eddy retorted, glancing out the window again.

Edd shrugged, and with a slightly sarcastic tone, remarked, "At least Ed knows what the creature _is_, right?"

Eddy snorted. "Like that's helping us..." He was becoming irritated by this point, because Ed was still staring out the window, enthralled, and telling Eddy all about the sun-lizards' bathing habits.

"-then they emit a poisonous acid which they spread through water, then they hold the water in their mouths and--"

"Ihhh..!" Eddy grabbed at his head, groaning in frustration, and grabbed at Ed to cover the older boy's mouth. "Ed, no one really cares... Let's just get the stupid thing away!"

Edd and _Rolf_ were just coming back in, and Eddy let Ed go. Ed pouted, looking out at the sun-lizard, then nodded. "The chicken must be saved..." Ed took the stuff and stuffed the fish and hot dogs into the can. He then proceeded to open a window and throw the can out so far it landed near the creek somewhere.

Eddy stared blankly at Ed, then groaned.

"Um, Ed, now what are we supposed to do?" Edd whispered frantically. "We don't have a lure anymore-- oh."

They watched as the lizard's nostrils twitched and its head trace the flight of the can. After a moment of thought, the lizard got up and slowly walked towards the street, then by Eddy's house, and to the creek.

"Wow..." Eddy managed to say.

"That--worked? Ed was right about that? That would imply that the information in his comics and movies have some basis of truth... what a frightening thought..." Edd murmured, a nervous expression crossing his face.

Ed grinned, and saluted. "Alarm code four-four-niner has been terminated, Sir!"

_Rolf_ seemed relieved. "Well, now we can continue the telling of tales, no?"

"Certainly, Rolf." Edd answered. The four walked back to the table to explain everything.

Eddy leaned back in his chair. "So, Rolfy-boy, who's first? Us, or you?"

"I will tell of this cul-de-sac first, and you may tell of your own afterwards. Rolf wishes to be hospitable to his guests, despite my curiosity in your story…" _Rolf_ commented as he pulled out some food, similar to what their Rolf had served them in the past. "Fish stick?"

Edd turned green, and Eddy looked nervous. "Uh, no thanks, not hungry..." He said, looking at Edd.

Ed grinned curelessly. "I'll have a fish stick, Rolf!"

Edd and Eddy stared at Ed in shock as he accepted a fish stick and proceeded to eat it. "Mmmm, yum..." He said between bites.

_Rolf_ smiled, and then turned to the others. "Well, where should Rolf begin?" He asked.

"Why not start with everyone who lives in the cul-de-sac, and what they're like?" Edd proposed.

"Ah ha.. Hm, well, there is Rolf, Nazz-girl, Kevin, Jonny and Plank, Jimmy, Sarah, and the Ed-boys." _Rolf_ said. "The Ed-boys are always trying to buy jawbreakers," The others nodded, "Kevin excels in various athletic fields, Evil-child Sarah is a terror to the neighborhood, and Jimmy is always with her."

Eddy looked annoyed. "That's just like our cul-de-sac, Double D!"

"Who is this 'Double D'?" _Rolf_ asked. The Eds looked startled.

Edd frowned, and raised a hand. "I'm Double D, Rolf."

Eddy was confused. "Yeah, he's Double D. Does he have another nick-name or something here?"

"No boys in the neighborhood have nicknames like 'Double D'." _Rolf_ commented slowly.

"Isn't there another me around here?" Edd asked nervously, rubbing his hat in confusion.

_Rolf_ looked at him, shaking his head slowly, and studied the boy for a moment. "Not in the cul-de-sac."

"Then, who's the third Ed?" Eddy exclaimed.

"There are not three Ed-boys, only two." Rolf continued. "Ed, and Eddy. You two only. You, though-" He shook his head again. "You're not one of the Eds here."

"Only two Eds? Come on, isn't there anyone who looks like Double D here?" Eddy asked, now looking completely puzzled.

"Well, there is that Edward who does not live here, but somewhere near here, but he is no Ed-boy. No one in the neighborhood really knows him, as he is a friend of the Kanker sisters." _Rolf_ replied.

"WHAT?" Eddy exploded. His eyes widened, and his hair was standing on end. "Friend with the Kankers and not us!"

Ed stared. "No way..."

"I have trouble believing I would have become friends with the Kanker sisters, but _not_ with Ed and Eddy..." Edd remarked, shivering.

"Well, that is who he spends his leisure time with..." _Rolf_ said slowly.

Eddy stared at Edd. "Weird, but we'll just check it out later... So, what were you saying, Rolf?"

"Well, we are having troubles with creatures of legends, such as that lizard. They have been appearing everywhere..." _Rolf_ started.

"That's--odd..." Edd murmured. He turned to Eddy and suggested, "Eddy, do you suppose it has anything to do with the other world we went to today?"

"I dunno... How long have these things been showing up for?" He asked Rolf.

Rolf looked up, then back at them. "About three or four months."

Edd and Eddy stared at him, thinking. "Probably unrelated, then…" Edd murmured.

Ed grinned. "Could you pass the gravy, Rolf?" He was holding a squid instead of wearing it on his head, and the plate before him was covered in food.

"Certainly." Rolf said, giving Ed the gravy.

Ed poured some on the squid, then dumped the rest on the plate. He then proceeded to shove it in his mouth whole.

"Ugh..." Edd muttered, his face turning green again. He covered his mouth and glanced at the roof.

Eddy smirked. "How is it, Ed?"

"Rhitz hwelly guld!" Ed exclaimed, food bits spewing from his mouth.

Eddy tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"

Ed swallowed. "It's really good, Eddy. Rolf, can I have another?"

"Of course, Ed-boy." Rolf said, passing him another squid.

"Yummy!" Ed continued to eat the food for an extended time while the others went back to talking.

"I'm sorry Rolf, but I'll have to pass on any exotic cuisine... If I eat any, I'll be ill for sure." Edd said when _Rolf_ offered him a cucumber-ball.

"So will I." Edd said as Rolf turned towards him. "Traveling between worlds seems to make normal people feel sick." All three glanced at Ed, eating away.

"Ed's not normal." Eddy explained quickly.

_Rolf_ sighed, looking disappointed, and leaned back in his chair. "If we are at the telling of tales again, speak to Rolf, and tell me how you got here."

Eddy started talking, and explained how his parents told him he was leaving, and how they built the gate. He then described the worlds they went to, and what had happened in them. By the time he finished, it was getting dark out.

_Rolf_ gazed thoughtfully at him, then looked out the window. It was getting dark out, and lights were turning on in the houses around them. He turned back to the Eds.

"Well, we have shared our stories, and the day is ending. Will you be going back to your world now?"

Eddy pondered it, and Edd spoke up. "Actually, Rolf, I was hoping we could stay here for the night, then explore the cul-de-sac tomorrow morning."

Eddy nodded, thinking about what _Rolf_ had told them.

"Well, there is no room in the house of Rolf, so you would have to sleep in the shed. Is that a problem?" He asked softly, looking worried.

"Not at all, we've done that before." Edd said.

"Yeah, but Lumpy snores really loudly, we won't be able to sleep..." Eddy said.

"That is no problem, Rolf's food help to cause quiet sleeping." They turned to Ed, who had fallen asleep in the chair. His dish was empty, and his snoring was barely audible.

"Well, that worked... which was it, anyway? I'll need a recipe..." Eddy asked as they stared at the sleeping Ed. He grinned. "The cash I could get off Sarah for a trick to get Ed to never snore again…"

_Rolf's_ eyebrow raised. "The squid. It is getting late now, and Rolf should be doing his chores. So, goodnight, Ed-boys." Rolf said kindly as he got up and started cleaning.

"Oh, let me help you with that, Rolf." Edd said, quickly standing.

"No thank you, please go to the shed and sleep." Rolf said as he carried the plates into another room.

"Come on, Double D..." Eddy said as he tapped Ed's shoulder. "Hello? Ed...? Wake up already..."

Ed snorted, then opened his eyes. "Huh?"

"Come on into the shed, we have stuff to plan already." Eddy complained, then walked out the backdoor.

They walked across the yard, Ed yawning loudly a few times as they went. Eddy left the door open to give them some light and the three found places around the room to stand comfortably.

"Well, what did you need to discuss with us, Eddy?" Edd asked as he leaned back on the stack of hay.

"I don't think we're gonna make any money here, so after we check out the trailer park, we'll head home." Eddy replied.

Ed started to pet the cow. "Good girl..." He crooned.

The other two stared at him." Anyway..." Edd commented, "We have to go back right after exploring, unless you want us to get in trouble. If we wake up at this world's version of 6:00 am, then go to the trailer park and spend 30 minutes there, then go straight to our homes, it'll be about 5:00 pm!"

"Wow... then we'd better wake up early. I'll get in even more trouble if I'm late to dinner and my parents don't know where I am..." Eddy muttered.

"That's right, Eddy. Anything else that you wanted to say?" Edd asked.

"Nope, I'm done." Eddy said, then arranged some of the straw into a pile so that he could be comfortable laying on it.

Edd nodded, and then he and Ed walked to the door.

Ed snuck over to the chicken coops and stared inside at the birds, while Edd stayed in the doorway and looked out. Some few stars were visible, but clouds were blocking many of them.

He leaned against the doorway and sat down, gazing skyward.

_/So much is going on… We're in another universe, where I apparently don't even live in the cul-de-sac… Eddy's leaving, suddenly, for an unknown amount of time, and we don't even know where he'll be going to…/_

_/And Mother and Father… They've both been skittish around me in what little time we spend together, more so than usual. Those strange conversations they've been having when they thought I was out of hearing… What on Earth is happening, I wonder/_

The moon came out from behind the clouds, a bright, full moon, and Edd stared at it. _/Full moon… Hmm. It's silly… That does look like the gate… Or am I being reminded more of the light from that dream/_ The moon went behind another cloud, and Edd sighed.

_/With Eddy leaving, what will Ed and I do to entertain ourselves..? I suppose I could always give Eddy instructions on how to build the gate… With alterations in the three-dimensional destination variables, instead of defaulting it, we could always visit, but… He's never much good at doing these kinds of things without our aid… Perhaps if we find out where he'll be going before he actually leaves… Get the latitude and longitude, and since it's the same planet the destination should be relatively stationary… Hmm…/_

He rubbed his head, for his headache was returning, then froze. Edd slowly turned his hand down and stared at it.

It was darker than usual, far darker, and something was covering it. Edd softly touched it, then gasped as he touched hair.

"Huh?" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet, staring at his hand in terror. "Ah!" He shrieked, shaking all over.

------------------------------------------------------------

Someone yelled in a strangled voice, and Eddy opened an eye, looking up.

In the doorway, Edd was standing and shaking, staring at his hand.

Eddy stood up. "Double D, what's wrong?" He asked in a sleepy voice.

"M-my ha-hand..., i-i-it's no-not right..." Edd stammered, shaking more and backing into the shed, gazing at his hand the whole time.

"Huh? Your hand?" He put his own hand out and grabbed the base of Edd's, examining it. "Okay, so you've got some dirt on it… Jeez Double D, you always freak out from the stupidest-" Edd attempted to wipe the 'dirt' off. When he felt it, he let go as if he had been shocked. "Wh-what the heck? What's going on?" He exclaimed, staring at Edd.

"I-I d-d-don't know..." Edd whispered, and staring back at Eddy. His expression was one of terror, and he glanced at his hand, then back at Eddy.

Ed wandered over, looking around Edd's shoulder "What's the yelling about, guys?" He walked next to Eddy and looked back and forth between them, puzzled.

The moon came out again, and the light shone in on them. Edd held his hand up, trying to understand what was happening, then curled up as his stomach lurched again.

Pain washed through his body as he clasped his hand, pain like he had never felt before. He could almost feel his DNA twisting as his body seemed to shift around him. He opened his eye slightly, and stared at what had been his hand before...

Ed and Eddy stared as Edd collapsed, and seemed to mutate in the light.

"The light of the full moon..." Ed murmured, staring at his friend in shock. "Eddy, I think Double D is a--"

The pain subsided, and Edd could move again. He opened his eyes to a gray scene before him, as if he were color-blind. He moved his head, only for his hat to fall off his head. There was no sign of his clothes, and he looked down at his body. He saw the body of a dog, or--

"--a werewolf...?" Ed murmured.

_/Wh-What…? W…Werewolf…? That's not possible, that can't be what's going on, this is just some bizarre dream, right/_ Edd thought frantically, backing up to get away, only to back into the hay. He shivered and looked up. There, Ed and Eddy were standing, staring at him.

"Double D?" Eddy asked softly. The boy's eyes were wide, as he kept himself ready for running. He'd seen Kevin as a _vampire_ before, there was always the chance that this was a dream. _Weird_ dream, yeah, but he'd had weirder.

Edd's new body shook, and he opened and closed his mouth as he tried to speak. When only a growl came out, he saw Eddy jump out of the corner of his eye, and Ed's head had tilted.

"Double D, nod if you understand me?" Ed asked. Ed, being Ed, wasn't afraid. Werewolves as he understood them were humanoid, standing on two legs when they chose. Edd looked like just a wolf, or a husky--dark gray/brown all over, and clear restricted to walking on all fours. How his friend would have just turned into a wolf he didn't really know, but it seemed to him like Edd wouldn't be a blood thirsty maniac.

The wolf nodded slowly, looking itself over again.

"You're really, I mean, you're _you_?" He asked.

Eddy was understandably startled as the wolf regarded him with an odd, wide-eyed look. The expression in the wolf's eyes as it gazed at him was creepy. He could just picture Double D looking at him that way. In fact... Double D often gave him that look, when he was nervous, or scared out of his wits.

Images spun in Eddy's mind, the last few moments flashing at him.

He saw Edd looking at him from the doorway, shaking and holding his hand.

He saw himself grabbing Double D's hand, only to jump back in fright.

The last thing was Edd staring at Eddy with that frantic look, then down at his own hand.

Then everything went black, and he remembered nothing else.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of Part 3

Edd (reading out of a Webster's Dictionary, on his bed): "Bunion... Noun, 'an inflamed swelling on the first joint of the big toe'... Oh, goodness!"

Edd and Eddy both turn green.

Eddy: "Bunion... People. You just had to ask, didn't you?"

Edd: "...I suppose I deserve that visual after asking... Ugh."

Ed (Seriously): "I bet they invaded in Double D's dream, too. _And_ in that 'Eight Three Two' world. Maybe they experimented on Nestor, and _that's_ how he can fly..."

Eddy: "...I hate you guys sometimes..."

Edd (shivers, looks around.): "Did anyone else get a deja' vu feeling there?"

KK: "I think I was gonna write Eddy saying that in the story itself, and changed my mind... It was probably in reference to that scene, too."

Ed: "Funky..."

Edd: "Moving on, though..."

Eddy: "A _werewolf_?"

Edd: "I was surprised too!"

Eddy: "But-a werewolf? When the heck did you get bitten by a _werewolf_! A _vampire_ maybe, but..."

Edd: "Not yesterday."

Eddy: "_When_, then?

Edd: "I don't know! Eddy, don't expect me to know this! Kitty's in the room, remember? I only act as her voice when she's not present!"

Eddy, Edd, and Ed look expectantly at Kitty. She smiles and shrugs.

KK: "You don't know yet, and I'm not spoiling. The way I wrote it so far stinks. I know who and when exactly the whole thing happened, and how it affects your life, but I can't say yet... I'm gonna rewrite it. For now, though, let me warn you that I bend or break multiple rules generally accepted for werewolves, vampires, and so forth... For the benefit of the plot."

Eddy (snorts): "Not even a hint?"

KK: "Nuh uh."

Edd: "At least now you're making it expressly clear that I kept my own mind, rather than being overwhelmed by primal urges... and that I just look like a wolf. That wasn't even remotely clear before."

KK: "...Maybe."

All three Eds blink, and look suspicious. Kitty raises her hands in an exagerated shrug.

KK: "I haven't decided yet! I'm gonna rewrite the story, make it a little older, and since I don't know if I'm ever gonna write the sequals, I need to let Rolf and a few others be weirded out by Double D... Once I was gonna have this whole elaborate story about it being only children or adolescents that maintain their minds, and have a bit years in the future where Double D and any other such people finding that they're no longer in charge when they change..."

Edd (pales): "And, of course, the best way to deal with that is have something like that this early? That's a little cruel..."

KK shrugs again, sadly.

Eddy (raises an eyebrow): "Sequels, huh? More than one was planned?"

KK (weary): "You don't want to know how many I'd had thoughts of, at least. And the fact that I received a fanfic of my fanfic made me a little more optimistic about the idea..."

Ed: "So we won't all die?"

KK: "It'd be hard to write a sequel if you did."

Ed (nodding): "Soooo... Uh, Double D doesn't look like a werewolf's supposed to, and the rules about them got all messed up... But why Double D? I can howl better than he can!"

Edd: "Um..."

Eddy (would sweatdrop if this was an anime, but as it's not, blinks instead).

Ed: "See? ArrrooooOOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooo---"

Edd, Eddy, and KK clasp hands over their ears, wincing.

KK: "Let's leave already..."

Eddy and Edd nod, and all three inch out of the room.

Eddy: "Uh, anyone reading, thanks-and please review!"


	4. The Impossibilities begin

Still don't own it. It'd be cool if I did-but it'd be cooler if some more of the season 4 episodes would show. You can only watch 'Pop goes the Ed' so many times...

I also don't own Hyne, that's a name used in FF8. I tend to use that instead of 'God' when I don't want to say the usual word. Whoo.

Edd: "I don't believe we got kicked out of my own room..."

Eddy (on his own bed now): "Well, now we're in my digs, and maybe Ed won't come until he's done howling..."

Edd: "And hopefully he doesn't go near Sarah doing that..."

Both wince in agreement.

Add on---YAY! The Ed's library, a little site I submitted this to way back when, had a copy of this chapter---WITH THE MISSING CONVERSATION PIECES! Sooo... They've been blended with the newer ones for the sake of a more comprehensive version. Whoo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Secret of Edd Part 4

Date: August 3rd, 2001(world 832001)

Date: August 4th, 2001(world 832017)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Eddy kept his eyes closed and remained where he was. There was soft breathing elsewhere in the room, but he didn't know where. He didn't even know where he was, and he wanted to remain quiet until he had figured it out---secretly, he slowly opened his eyes.

His 'stealth' was wrecked, as a large face was directly above him, peering down at his face.

"Ah!" He yelled, jolting back into the floor.

Ed stood up. "Sorry, Eddy."

"Grrr... Oh, that's okay..." Eddy muttered sarcastically and sat up. He then looked puzzled. "Ed, what are you doing in my-- um, why are we in Rolf's shed?"

"We slept here, and I hugged the cow." Ed remarked.

Eddy blinked, and felt completely lost. He thought about what had happened; the gate, talking to Rolf, coming into the shed to spend the 'night', and...

_"Wh-what the heck? What's going on?"_

_"I-I d-d-don't know..."_

Eddy remembered. The night came back to him, and he slowly turned around towards the door.

Edd was sitting next to the doorway with his knees bent and his head bowed down. His arms were crossed on his knees and the boy looked asleep. His face, his black hat, red shirt and blue shorts were all the same, as well as his shoes, socks, and skinny arms. There was no sign that the last night had ever happened.

"Double D?" Eddy asked softly.

Edd opened his eyes and looked up. "Yes, Eddy?" He asked in his own voice, but he gazed out of eyes that seemed different. Eddy stared. His friend's eyes were faintly bloodshot with dark shadows under them, and beyond the physical aspects, Eddy could almost _sense_ a deep expression of fear from his friend.

Edd and Eddy stared at each other across the room for a minute. Ed gazed between the two in a puzzled silence.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" Eddy murmured.

Edd sighed and turned his head to the right, staring at the floor. "It would appear not..."

"Then, what _happened? _How-how did you...?" Eddy exclaimed.

Edd grew rigid and looked back at Eddy, his hand tensed up. "You think I know!" He exclaimed in a strangled voice, then raised it, his hand in a fist. "If I knew what was happening, do you think I would have been as startled, as terrified, as I was?" His voice rose even more sharply, and he half-yelled, "Do you?"

Eddy drew back, shocked at his friend's behavior, and didn't answer, only stared---this was more of a transformation than turning into a wolf.

Edd looked startled and then shivered. He took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes and relaxing his fist, and leaned against the wall again. He gazed up at the ceiling and murmured, "I don't know what's going on anymore, Eddy... I just don't know..." He whispered softly. The other two could hear his voice crack faintly, and exchanged glances.

"Ed-boys?" _Rolf's _voice came from outside. "Will you assist Rolfin his hunt?"

Eddy gave Edd another look, then walked to the door and opened it, going through towards _Rolf_. Ed stared in a puzzled way at Edd, and then followed Eddy. Edd gazed after them, thinking for a moment, then silently got to his feet and walked out.

It was light out, about 7:00 a.m., although Edd's watch said 4:30 p.m.

"What hunt?" Eddy was asking.

"There is a werewolf around here," The boys froze and looked at each other, "--who has been terrorizing Wilfredand Victorall night. Did you not hear its howling?"

"W-well, Rolf, we did, but we thought it was coyotes. Are you sure that it was a werewolf?" Eddy stammered.

"Yes. Will you help me to hunt it down?" _Rolf _asked expectantly.

"Um, we'd love to help, but, uh..." Eddy started.

"But our parents will be expecting us soon, and we still want to look around here some more." Edd added.

"So, we'll have to be going." Eddy finished. "See ya around, Rolf." Eddy started walking towards the street.

"Farewell, Rolf..." Edd said, then followed Eddy.

"Bye, Rolf. Your gravy's really good, as good as my mom's... Mmmm, gravy! Yum..." Ed commented before following them.

_Rolf _gazed after them thoughtfully, then jumped as a coyote howled in the distance.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They snuck to the edge of the house and looked around the corner. Surprisingly, the cul-de-sac was empty again. However, they could hear music and laughing.

Eddy looked at Edd, thinking. /Hmmm… So, I fai--fell unconscious… and I bet Double D did too. It's more like him to do that than me anyway---but he's all weirded out, so how about we just let last night go for now…/

Edd seemed to notice him staring, so Eddy shrugged. "I wonder where everyone is...?" He made a point of looking around for the source of the sounds.

"Maybe a black hole formed in the neighborhood and they were sucked into an alternate universe... wait, WE'RE IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!" Ed suddenly yelled.

"SHH!" Eddy exclaimed, clamping his hand over Ed's mouth.

"Perhaps they are simply at Nazz's house, having a party?" Edd suggested dryly, pointing up the street towards _Nazz's_. When they turned to look, they saw someone prance around the backyard, then run towards the house again.

"Oh..." Eddy muttered, then shrugged again. "Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go already!"

They ran across the street, then up the road to Ed's house towards the woods. They went through the woods: not towards the clearing, but towards the trailer park.

"I don't know about this, Eddy..." Edd complained.

"Oh, come on, Double D! Don't wimp out on me now, and don't you want to know what's going on?" Eddy exclaimed, stepping high over a root.

"I suppose... but it's so... unsanitary there..." Edd trailed off and kept walking.

Eddy stared at him, and they walked in silence. /Well, at least he's not _totally_ out o' character. But if he yells at me again…/

"I am the king of the jungle!" Ed suddenly yelled from up above them.

Edd and Eddy stopped in startled fright and stared up. There, Ed was standing on a tree branch, holding something that looked suspiciously like a vine.

"Ed! Get down!" Edd exclaimed, and then muttered, "Why must he keep going in high places where he could easily hurt himself?"

"Because it's Ed, why else?" Eddy remarked. "I'd rather like to know where he found the vine… That stuff's good for rope, especially since all our parents are out of it…"

Ed slid down a tree and ran ahead, and the other two followed slowly.

They remained silent for another minute.

"So, what do you think he'll be like?" Eddy asked as they threaded their way through some thick trees.

"Very different from myself, especially if he's friends with the Kanker sisters and lives in the trailer park..." Edd said.

Eddy looked puzzled. "We don't even know if he does live in the trailer park, Double D. Just that he doesn't live in the cul-de-sac."

Edd rolled his eyes slightly. "Eddy, think about it. We don't hang out with anyone from other cul-de-sacs, do we? We're not really allowed to leave to go to any of the other cul-de-sacs, they're a good ways down the road. But we _can_ go to the trailer park..."

"So?" Eddy demanded.

"If _Rolf_knows who he is, then they must have seen each other at some point before then." Edd replied, in a tone saying that it was extremely obvious. "Which would mean he'd have to live nearby…"

"Okay... I guess that makes sense..." Eddy said.

"Of course. But we still don't know what he will be like, so--" Edd was interrupted by Ed.

"Trailer!" Ed exclaimed, as the first trailer was visible through the trees. He then stopped and looked down. "Water!"

"Oh yeah, the creek's here..." Eddy muttered. The water flowed by, between them and the trailer park, as though mocking him.

"Hmm... We'll need some way to get across… Good idea, Ed!" Edd exclaimed, watching Ed pick up a tree and set it over the water.

Eddy slowly looked up and stared at the root mass towering several feet above his head. "How did he pick that up so quickly...?" He asked Edd.

"Considering recent events, I don't find that very unusual, Eddy…" Edd commented. "It's not as though he's never done that before…"

"And a house…" Eddy murmured, thinking back. He cringed at the thought, as _that_ had _hurt_.

"Let's go, Eddy!" Ed exclaimed, about to run across.

"Wait!" Edd exclaimed, and grabbed his coat.

"Huh?" Ed questioned.

"Why?" Eddy asked irritably.

"Is it really a good idea to openly walk around the trailer park?" Edd asked.

"Fine then. We'll sneak in. Happy?" Eddy said.

Edd nodded, turning towards the trailers. "Let's go." He said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

They crept across the makeshift bridge into the trailer park. Eddy warily made his way between trailers, followed closely by Ed and Edd.

Eddy suddenly stopped, peering around the trailer. "There are the Kankers… and some other kids." He whispered.

All three looked around the corner. There were several unfamiliar kids, as well as _Lee_ and _Marie_. _Lee_was on ladder washing the trailer while _Marie_sat on a beach chair wearing her normal clothes, smiling wickedly.

A kid was sitting next to her in another chair, wearing black pants and a dark, blood red shirt, but they couldn't see the kid's face because of a large cowboy hat with the brim resting on his/her chest.

A tall, blond boy who reminded them vaguely of Kevin or Rolf stood near by, tossing a football into the air. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, camo pants, and dark shoes.

As the three watched, _May_ walked out from behind the _Kankers's_trailer, talking to a medium height boy with brown hair. Of any of the neighborhood kids he looked the most like Ed—but, really, that wasn't by very much. He had a simple green tank top and blue jean pants on.

"Well, I don't see _me_ out there…" Edd whispered.

"It's gotta be the kid with the hat…" Eddy muttered, interestedly watching.

_May_ and the brunette boy froze when they saw _Marie_ and the others. The three watched _May_, _Marie_ glaring, the blond bored, and the cowboy-hatted boy still hidden.

"What do you think you're doing?" _Marie _asked softly.

"We-we were just, um..." _May_ faltered, looking nervously at the boy standing next to her. He glanced back at her, with his own nervous expression.

"You were getting out of doing your chores, weren't you...?" The cowboy-hatted kid hissed darkly. Though he still didn't look up, the three Eds cringed. If Double D were to try being evil, his voice would probably be like that...

"N-no, I was _not!_ I was just--" _May_ protested.

"Robbie, get out of here. Your girlfriend's supposed to be doing chores, orders from her _mother_..." The boy hinted in an almost threatening manner from under his hat. He looked up enough that his chin was visible, and Eddy tapped Edd's shoulder.

"Double _D_...!" He hissed, looking at the taller boy.

Edd shook his head a little too quickly for Eddy to take him seriously, and didn't answer.

_May_ and Robbie looked at each other again, then he ran off.

"Why'd you have to do that?" _May_ whined, looking upset.

_Marie_ frowned, smacking the cowboy hat down as the boy chuckled. "You _do_ have other things to do than make out with the neighbors."

_May's_ shoulders sagged, and an annoyed expression came over her face. "But, don't _you_ have chores to do, too? You're not doing them!"

_Marie_ now giggled. "Let's see... Laundry-" She looked at the clothes line, everything on it was drying, "Oh, and I'm making lunch..."

"Better do it soon, and get it over with..." Cowboy hat suggested, grinning.

"_Marie_, it's not even 8 o'clock... don't do that yet! The food will get spoiled!" _Lee_started.

Before anyone could leave, another boy walked over. To Double D's disappointment and Eddy's glee it was _not_ another Edd, but someone else. He looked almost like a tall cross between Eddy and Jimmy, with a bright red Mohawk. He was in black T-shirt, and pants a darker red than his hair.

The Kankers all stared at him, and Cowboy hat pulled up the hat's brim to stare at the newcomer. He looked the kid up and down, and then gave a familiar, though gap-less grin.

Edd gasped and fell back into the dirt.

Eddy stared and snorted. "Double D! That _is_ you!" He whispered, and then covered his mouth so he wouldn't laugh very loudly.

"Whoa... that's so weird..." Ed whispered.

Edd was shocked. "That's-- me? That gothic jerk? How could I have ever grown up to be like him?" He whispered fiercely.

"Let's go say hi!" Eddy whispered, snickering even louder. "What do you think he'd do, Double D? Hit me?"

They peered over again, as Edd-like laughter rang out-though it was noticeably drier and deeper sounding... He was an Eddwhose voice had already changed, then.

"Tom... You look like a demented chicken. What did you do to your hair…? Why?"

Tom stood still, then crossed his arms over his chest. "'Demented chicken'? Well, gee, thanks Ed, thanks _so_ much for the compliment." The boy looked skyward. "_I_ thought it looked cool."

"...Chicken?" Ed whispered.

Edd and Eddy's eyes bolted open.

"No, Ed!" They hissed, grabbing the boy's arms before he stepped out.

"'_Ed_'...? You call me that again, I'm gonna hurt you. Stick with Edward, or I'm sneaking in your house to _tattoo _you like a chicken."

"But... Chicken, Eddy, they're talking about chickens...!" Ed didn't whisper anymore.

The other two jolted back, wincing. "Wait---Who said that?" Edward's voice sounded.

Eddy crouched down. "Ed, you idiot! Why'd you talk?" He hissed.

"I love chickens..." Ed commented sadly.

"Eddy, we need to get away before they look out here." Edd whispered.

"Alright, let's go around." Eddy whispered back.

They got into crouched positions and snuck around to the side as _Marie_went curiously to where they would've been visible.

"I don't see anyone..." She reported as the Eds sighed and leaned against the corner of the trailer.

"Hmm… I'll check it out." Edward said, too late for the Eds to hear him.

Eddy collapsed against the side of another trailer, and snickered. "Wow! This is so funny!" He leaned against the door while Ed and Edd stood looking at him. "Double D friends with the _Kankers_... Who would've ever…what?"

The two stopped looking at him, staring instead up past his shoulder. Eddy glanced behind him.

Edward was staring at him, an eyebrow raised. "A loud-mouthed pipsqueak. What are you doing _here_-what... who the..." He trailed off dropped his shoulders as he looked past Ed and Eddy, and saw Edd. _May_, _Marie_, and _Lee_ came over behind Edward.

"What's goin' on out here?" _Marie_ exclaimed, and then saw Edd. "Oh...Hyne..."

"Um, hi..." Edd said nervously, crouching his shoulders slightly.

"What the #$ is going on here?" Edward exclaimed, shaking as though torn between grasping Edd's shoulder and shaking him, or backing away. His voice edged on hysterical, understandably. "Who are you?"

"Um, well, heh heh, I'm Edd..." Edd said softly, glancing down at Eddy. "A little help here would be nice..." He asked.

Eddy stood up and wiped the dirt off his pants, grinning wickedly. "You're nuts. You're seeing and hearing things." He told Edward, then grinned at Edd.

Edd slapped his forehead. "Oh, that was really helpful, Eddy..." He commented sarcastically.

_Marie_ stared at Edd. "Who _are_ you, and why do you look so much like Edward?"

Edd sighed and rubbed his hat in frustration. "Um, well, you see, the three of us," He gestured at Ed, Eddy, and himself, "We are from another world..."

Silence fell, as _Kankers_ and Edward stared at Edd in disbelief.

"By 'another world'... do you mean planet? Or universe...?" Edward finally asked.

"We are from a parallel universe." Ed remarked. He then gestured at Edward's hat. "Um, do you wear that 'cause your hair is all weird, too?"

The boy grabbed his hat with one hand. "Wha-what? How---- oh, right, like _his_, huh...?" He stared at Edd's hat, and then snorted. "Uh, is that a _sock_...?"

Eddy snickered, and Edd put his hands on his hips. "Why does everyone always say that!" He exclaimed.

"Because that's what it looks like, Double D." Ed said, and stopped staring at the cowboy hat.

"Who?" _Lee_ asked.

Eddy looked at her irritably and Edd chuckled. "Here we go again, Eddy..." He said, jokingly mocking Eddy. With Eddy's span of patience, he was probably already tired of telling their story.

The group headed back to the _Kankers'_ trailer and sat in a circle to listen to Edd and Eddy explain what was going on.

They left out the details of the previous night, saying only that they had stayed in the shed. As they explained, Robbie, Will, and Tom, the three trailer-park boys, came and listened in shock. They asked for the beginning to the story, so they started over again.

Edward and _Marie _eyed each other, and Edd.

"Then, he's completely normal...?' _Marie _wondered, looking shocked. "'Cause I didn't notice anyone else out last night..."

Ed laughed. "Double D isn't normal! He's... uh... um. …Never mind."

Edward looked curious, then annoyed. "Wait..." He stared at Edd for a moment, then nodded faintly to himself. "_So_... anything happen last night that's not quite, uh... normal?"

Edd blinked quickly, and swallowed. "Um... No, nothing at all..."

Edward's eyes narrowed, and he stood up slowly and menacingly. "What happened?" He repeated, in a lower, rougher voice.

"Nothing that concerns you!" Edd exclaimed as Edward stepped towards him.

"Yeah right! Look how much you're panicking! Man, Edward... to see you like _this_..." Robbie remarked, and earned a quick glare from Edward.

The 'Edds' stared at each other for a minute, and then Edward spoke in a lower, rougher voice, out of anyone else's hearing. "Well, do you understand me...?"

"Uh...yeah..." Edd whispered in an equally hoarse voice, backing away slightly.

Edward smirked, and leaned back a little, smirking. "Well, your friends can't..."

Edd frowned, and noticed that Edward's eyes had gone amber colored, and wolf-like. His own eyes widened, and he whispered, "Oh!"

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Eddy watched nervously as the other Double D approached his friend. The two stared at one another, and then Edward muttered something, growling.

Edd murmured something as he recoiled slightly, then Edward grinned wickedly. He murmured something else and Edd started, and then stared at Ed, then Eddy.

"What?" Eddy asked.

"Did you...?" Edd started, glancing at Edward, then back at him and Ed.

"Did I... do what?" Eddy repeated in an annoyed voice.

Edd just stared at him and looked puzzled. "Never mind..."

Eddy frowned. /What the heck was that about…/ He wondered irritably.

The glaring fight seemed to be over with, Edward the overly smug, satisfied winner, and most people started shifting and stretching.

_Marie_ smiled and leaned against Edward's shoulder. "Hey, don't we have a date tonight?" She asked dreamily.

"Yeah... Full moon, romantic, starry view...?" He replied, and then leaned over to kiss her.

"Full moon again, hmm?" Edd murmured, frowning.

Eddy stuck out his tongue in disgust and looked away towards Ed. Ed was covering his eyes, and Edd was watching the two kiss quizzically.

/Double D isn't looking grossed out…? Not a good sign…/ Eddy thought, shivering.

Edward straightened, and while _Marie_stretched, he commented, "We're going."

"But- you still need to do your chores, _Marie_! And we aren't supposed to make lunch!" _Lee_exclaimed.

"I already _made_ food... Lasagna and pie, ready to go, in the fridge. Just microwave it for five minutes. I'll do my stuff later, see ya." _Marie _said, and she and Edward walked off.

"Well..." Edd murmured.

"Okay then... um, what should we do now?" Eddy asked him.

"We have chores to do, and we want quiet, okay, boys?" _Lee _asked, to all six boys. She then got to her feet and went back to washing the trailer.

_May _smiled at Robbie and he followed her to behind the trailer.

Tom and Will looked at the Eds. "You guys leaving?" Tom asked, staring at Edd again. Will followed the stare, a bit of a snicker apparent in his expression, and Edd wiggled restlessly.

"Yeah, no reason for us to hang around." Eddy muttered, looking around the area.

"Besides, we'll get in trouble if we don't get home soon--again..." Edd added, then slowly stood up and stretched.

Ed leaned over and examined the plates Edward and _Marie _had left. "Pie...yum..." He said, licking his lips.

Will watched Ed with an eyebrow raised. "He seems... pretty hungry..." He commented, wincing as Ed's stomach growled.

"That's Ed for you..." Edd replied, and glanced towards Eddy. "Are we going yet? We need to get home soon..."

"Yeah. Come on, Lumpy." Eddy said, then slapped Ed's back and started walking off.

Ed smiled and followed Edd and Eddy leave the trailer park, a content, hungry expression still across his face.

They walked towards the clearing the gate was in silently, each in thought.

Eddy was irritated. /Another whole day, and we didn't even make any money! Sure, we're still got some jawbreakers left, and that was wicked weird, but… I wanna _scam_ some people before I have to go./

Edd was lost in thought, pondering the day's events. /So… how on Earth is any of this possible…? I'm a werewolf…? What is happening here…/

Ed was thinking about something that he would have considered far more important than the things on Edd and Eddy's minds. It was a truly monumental train of thought, one that rivaled the questions great minds of old asked; the meaning of life, what defined humanity, if extraterrestrial beings existed… /Hmmm… Would that pie have been cherry or blueberry/

They finally came into the clearing, and Edd activated the gate.

It didn't appear.

"Um, Double D...?" Eddy asked nervously, looking over.

Edd frowned, staring down at the remote, and pressed the activation button a few more times. Nothing appeared to happen, and he thought back. "Hang on... oh yeah! The gate's not here, it's in-- the middle of the cul-de-sac..." Edd trailed off dully and looked nervously at Eddy.

"Uh, oh..." Eddy said softly.

They ran at top speed to the cul-de-sac and came out behind Ed's house.

"Oh, man..." Eddy muttered as they peeked around the corner of the building towards the cul-de-sac center. All of the neighborhood kids were gathered around the gate, frantically talking.

"What do you think it is?" _Nazz_ was asking _Kevin_.

He shrugged and looked at the other Eddy, clearly expected him to know. "What is this, dork?" He demanded with a clearly annoyed tone of voice.

_Eddy_ shrugged, and opened his mouth to talk.

Like in their own world, _Ed_ beat him to it with the remark, "It is a gate into an alternate dimension where the cul-de-sac is filled with monsters who have come to invade this world."

Edd and Eddy looked at each other behind the house. "What do we do now?" Eddy asked.

Edd frowned, glancing towards the center again. "I would suggest... that we simply break through to the gate. We really need to get home soon, and an explanation would be too long." He frowned, looking slightly regretful. "If all else failed, we could always come back here to give an explanation, at some other point in time..."

"Right..." Eddy smirked, and whacked Ed on the shoulder. "Ed, you ready to run?"

"Yep!" Ed answered.

"Then let's go..." Edd began.

"Now!" Eddy exclaimed, and they broke out from behind it and ran towards the middle of the street.

Ed and Eddy broke ahead and got to the top, gathering startled expressions. _Kevin_ began to turn, in time only to see Edd. Confused, he reached out and grabbed Edd. "What are you doing here?" He exclaimed.

Most of the kids clustered around, but _Jimmy_ looked up at Ed and Eddy. "Oh dear! I think the heat is making me see things, Sarah!" He exclaimed, dramatically collapsing to the ground.

"Huh? Ah!"

_Nazz_, _Jonny_, and _Sarah_ quickly backed away from the gate in fright.

"Wha-what the heck?" _Kevin_ exclaimed, looking between the Ed and Eddy pairs in shock. "How are there two of..."

"Who are you guys...?" The other _Eddy's_face was white, and his eyes very large.

"Look, we're from another universe, we're not here to 'invade the cul-de-sac' or anything… Now will you let go of him? We need to leave. Now." Eddy replied, glaring at _Kevin_.

_Kevin_ stared at Edd and, shaking his head in disbelief, opened his hands. "Um, heh-here you go..." He said and stepped back.

Edd rubbed his arm, disgruntled, and walked up the stairs. "I'm ready when you are, Eddy."

"Okay, see you guys." Eddy said with a wave to the kids, then turned and walked into the gate.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonny looked concerned. There was no sign of the Kankers. "Um, May? Marie? Lee? Are you in there?" He asked nervously. Nervous because, after all, if you were smart you didn't _try _to talk to them, or find them… You stayed away.

The door opened and Lee and May came out, grinning wickedly. Marie cautiously poked her head out behind them with a nervous expression on her face.

"Yeah, we're here." Lee said. Something about the expression on their faces made Jonny even more nervous.

"What'd' ya want?" May asked.

Sweat trickled down the side of Jonny's head. "Um, you see, I was going to call everyone in the area together, because, um..." He trailed off and tried to re-word it.

"Everyone?" Lee questioned deviously.

"Even the Eds?" May continued.

"Um, no, not unless they get back soon. Y-you see, it's my and Plank's opinion that all kinds of weird things are gonna be happening and I wanted to warn everyone..." Jonny replied.

"Oh, what kinds of...things..." Marie stammered.

"Um..." He paused, listening to Plank. "Vampires, monsters of all types, people vanishing, things floating, that sort of thing..."

Lee and May grinned at each other. "Okay, we'll go. Where to?" Lee asked.

"The path, in about twenty minutes." Jonny replied, then turned and walked off.

"Why'd you let him go, Lee?" May demanded.

Lee shoved her in the dirt. "'Cause in twenty minutes, we'll be able to get every kid, not just one. Duh..."

"Oh... heehee..." May said, and then started laughing.

Lee grinned and joined in the laughing, while Marie stared at the two nervously, then snuck back in the trailer.

----------------------------------------------------------------

The Eds walked out of the gate.

"This stinks!" Eddy exclaimed, kicking the side of the gate.

"Eddy, please don't break it... and we still have 7 dollars..." Edd said, trying to calm Eddy down.

"Let's just get some jawbreakers and go home." Ed suggested.

Edd and Eddy stared at him.

"And yet another sudden intelligent idea from Ed." Edd commented.

"Betcha a quarter it won't last." Eddy said slyly.

"Not to degrade Ed, but I'm not going to take that bet..." Edd replied with an ashamed look on his face.

"Buttered toast!" Ed suddenly yelled, then ran to the edge of the clearing and stooped down.

"How'd we know?" Eddy asked sarcastically.

Edd shrugged, and watched Ed pick something from the ground. "Um, Ed, THAT'S A POISONOUS MUSHROOM!" He yelled, running towards Ed.

"You go, Lumpy!" Eddy exclaimed as Ed popped the mushroom in his mouth, chewed, then swallowed it.

"Oh, dear..." Edd murmured as Ed's face grew splotchy and swollen again.

"I feel funny, guys..." Ed said.

"We'll have to sneak him home." Eddy said, staring in shock at Ed's face.

"How about to my house? I'll have some medicine that can counter the effects of the mushroom..." Edd suggested.

"Okay, then. Come on, Ed..." Eddy said, and they walked out of the clearing.

Edd looked around cautiously. No one was in sight, and he sighed. "Coast's clear, Eddy." He said, and they walked into the street.

"So, Ed's allergic to rabbits and eels, dandelions make him sneeze like crazy, and mushrooms make him all blotchy. I mean, eels! Who the heck thinks of eels! He has some serious issues..." Eddy commented as they walked along the street, then looked thoughtful. "About what time is it?"

"I'd say... 5:20?" Edd replied.

"Good, dinner isn't til 6:00. Where's everyone at, I wonder...?" Eddy asked.

They became aware of voices from the path, and two singing very badly.

"Huh?" Edd said, turning to Eddy.

He shrugged. "Let's check it out."

All three walked over to the fence and looked over curiously.

There, every kid in the cul-de-sac was circled around Kevin and Jimmy, talking frantically. Kevin and Jimmy were standing in the center of the group, the source of the singing.

_"This is the song that never ends,_

_And it goes on and on my friends._

_Some people-starting singing it, not knowing what it was,_

_But they'll continue singing it forever just because,_

_This is the song that never ends,_

_And it goes on and on my friends._

_Some people-starting singing it, not knowing what it was,_

_But they'll continue singing it forever just because,_

_This is the song that never ends,_

_And it goes on and on my friends---"_

The Eds stared in shock, and Eddy covered his ears. "Stop the singing already!" He yelled.

The kids looked up at them, Kevin and Jimmy still singing.

"I'm getting a headache, guys…" Ed complained.

"What's going on?" Edd asked, opening the door in the fence and walking through, followed by Ed and Eddy.

"Kevin and Jimmy can't stop singing!" Nazz exclaimed.

"Nothing we do stops them. We can not even cover their mouths, our hands just don't go near them." Rolf added.

_" --Never ends, and it goes on and on my-"_ The singing continued the whole time.

"CAN'T?" Edd and Eddy asked simultaneously, looking at each other with startled faces.

"Yeah, can't! We tried everything we could think of, but…" Jonny said to them, and then looked down at Plank. "Right?"

"………" Plank replied.

"Well, could you answer my first question?" Edd said, going to Kevin and looking down at his face. "You really can't stop?"

Jimmy nodded, on the verge of crying, and Kevin looked down, and then stared angrily at Edd. He motioned furiously with one hand, like he was holding a pencil and writing.

"You want something to write with?" Edd asked, and Kevin nodded. Edd pulled his notebook and pencil out of his pocket, and then held them out. "I think this will suffice?"

"_And it goes on and on my friends…"_

Kevin took it and scribbled something, then showed it to Edd. The others crowded around him as he read it silently, then out loud.

_**Yeah, we can't stop.**_

_**It's all your girlfriends' fault.**_

_**They came here and told us to sing, and we did, and couldn't stop.**_

_**Where were you dorks anyway? With them?**_

Eddy looked furious. "WHAT? We weren't with them, we-"

Edd interrupted him. "They aren't really our girlfriends, Kevin. They might think so, but they aren't. We were just-- exploring in the woods, and doing stuff like that…"

Sarah hugged Jimmy, and the others glanced at her. He and Kevin were still singing, and unable to talk.

"PLEASE stop singing already!" Eddy exclaimed.

Kevin glared at him, but the singing continued.

Edd rubbed his face in frustration. "Kevin, Jimmy, stop singing. I don't think I'll be liable for my actions if I hear more of this song…"

No one answered, and they all stood there, thinking silently.

Rolf sighed, and then looked startled. Edd blinked in surprise, and Eddy looked around, puzzled.

After all, they were standing silently.

"Huh?" Kevin asked.

Nazz stared. "Kevin!" She exclaimed.

"Sarah! I-I'm okay!" Jimmy exclaimed, and then gave her a huge hug.

Kevin yawned, working the muscles in his mouth, then looked at Edd. "What did you do?"

Edd looked back at him with a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Rolf nodded. "Yes, how did you stop the wailing of Kevin and Jimmy?"

"I did nothing odd, I simply told them to stop singing." Edd said, frowning.

"Uh huh... sure thing, Double D." Kevin said, glaring at him. "You and the Kankers were in on this together, weren't you?"

"Hey! We already told you, we weren't with them!" Eddy yelled.

"Well, you guys are going to need to know what's going on, if you don't already know..." Nazz said. "How about I hold a slumber party, and everyone come so we can try to figure out what's going on."

"Agreed. I'll go inform Mother and Father. What time should we show up?" Edd said, glaring at Kevin uncharacteristically.

"Um, around 7:30. Okay?" Nazz said, looking around at everyone.

"Sure thing, Nazz..." Eddy said, looking uncomfortable.

"Um, I still don't feel good, guys..." Ed said from the side. Everyone looked over at him. His entire face had turned blue.

"Oh my! I forgot about the mushroom!" Edd exclaimed, running over to Ed. "Eddy, we need to get that medicine, immediately!"

Jonny looked shocked. "What happened to Ed's face?"

"Let's just leave Lumpy like this, it's not like anyone would notice." Eddy snickered.

Edd frowned again. "Eddy! Ed, come with me, I'll fix that up in a few minutes."

"Okay-dokey, Double D." Ed said, following Edd down the street.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah... much better." Edd said, holding a mirror up for Ed.

He examined his face in it. "What happened to the blue?"

Eddy opened the door. "Can I come in yet?" He demanded.

"Certainly, Eddy." Edd answered. He put the medicine away. "Let's see..." He murmured, looking at his wrist. "5:53..."

"WHAT!" Eddy exclaimed.

"It's 5:53, or 5:54 now." Edd answered.

"Oh, man! I'm gonna get in trouble again! I'm outta here!" Eddy exclaimed.

"Trouble? I don't want to get in trouble, Eddy!" Ed yelled, latching himself around Eddy's leg.

"Leggo, Monobrow!" He yelled, trying to kick Ed off.

"Trouble bad! I'm not in my happy place guys!" Ed continued, still lodged to Eddy's leg.

Edd looked nervous. "Trouble? Ed, you won't get in trouble, as long as you let go of Eddy and go home now..."

Ed gasped and released Eddy, who fell down. "Out of my way! I can't get grounded again!" He yelled, and then ran downstairs.

"Thanks, Double D." Eddy said, getting to his feet.

"You're wel--" Crashes came from downstairs, "--come. What was that?"

"Ed plowing through your door? I'm leaving." Edd said, then walked out.

"Honestly..." Edd muttered, and then followed Eddy down the stairs. The door did indeed have a large cut in it.

"Not again..." Edd complained, then shook his head and went about making himself some dinner.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Marie cringed as Lee kicked her. "Stop it!" She exclaimed.

"Where were you?" May asked in a dark tone.

Lee stopped kicking her. "Yeah, why'd ya sneak off?"

"I was here... I didn't want to go..." Marie cried.

"Tell the truth." Lee commanded darkly, crossing her arms and glaring at her sister.

"I wanted to stay away from you, so this wouldn't happen!" She said, obviously against her will.

May pointed at her, then slowly turned her finger towards the wall, then towards the ceiling abruptly. Marie floated where where May's finger had pointed, then slammed against the roof.

"Ohh!" She cried out. /Why are you two being like this…? What happened to me being a sister, so you wouldn't…/ She thought as May slammed her to the ground. There she lay, in a pocket of the moonlight, nearly unconscious.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed smiled and left the kitchen. Sarah followed him. "So, are you three really with the Kankers? Or was Kevin just saying that?" She demanded.

"We're not with them, they're scary..." Ed said, then went down to his room.

Sarah stopped at the door down, and looked thoughtful. /Yeah, Kevin's idea doesn't make sense… Double D and them are _always_ running away from those three… Weird…/ She trailed off, and then ran up to her room to get her stuff ready.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Eddy pulled a flashlight and a bikini magazine from under his bed.

"I've gotta have this..." He said, and then went into his closet to look for stuff. Various types of clothes were thrown out, and he stopped to regard a black cloak. "Creepy... Bet I could sneak around in the dark easily with this..." He said, stuffing it in his bag. He looked back in the closet. "There it is!" He exclaimed, grabbing a tape-recorder.

"Heh heh heh... this'll make for some good laughs." He said, then put it in his bag with another change of identical clothes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Edd put sunscreen, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a hair brush, lotion, a compass, a map, a science book, an astronomy book, some nutritious grain bars, spare clothes, his pajamas, etc., etc. in his bag. After slight hesitation, he put his notebook and a pencil in, and then closed it.

He sighed, and then looked out the window. There were houses in the way, but he had an eerie feeling that the full moon was already rising...

"Yo! Double D!" Eddy yelled from outside.

Edd stuck his head out the window again. "Yes, Eddy?"

"You wanna come with me and Ed? The chicken ran off into the woods, and he's gonna go get it..." Eddy asked.

"…Chicken?" Edd blinked at him.

Uncomfortable, Eddy glanced off where Ed had just gone. "Yeah, um… Don't ask. Okay?"

Edd looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Certainly, as long as we can get back here soon... where's your bag?"

"My stuff? Left it at my house, I don't wanna be carrying it around everywhere." Eddy answered.

"Good idea, I'll do that too. I'll be out in a sec'." Edd said, pulling his head in and closing the window. He then walked downstairs and outside.

"Okay, come on." Eddy said, leading him up the street.

The two walked through the woods.

"I can't believe Ed ran ahead like that, we might not find him in time..." Edd complained.

"Well, it's Ed we're talking about. His mind says: 1. Find a chicken, 2. Go with my friends to prove we weren't collaborating with the Kankers to take over the cul-de-sac, 3. Find a chicken... Isn't obvious which is more important? You need to get your priorities straight, Double D." Eddy commented sarcastically.

"Collaborating? That's five syllables, Eddy!" Eddy gave him a look, and Edd continued. "I hope they don't honestly think that. It'd make it so uncomfortable if the only people who trusted us _were_ the Kankers..." He muttered.

Howling surrounded them. Edd and Eddy backed together and stared around at the trees surrounding them.

"Friends of yours?" Eddy whispered nervously.

"What do you mean by that?" Edd demanded.

"Do not fear!" Ed's voice rang out. "It is I, Ed!"

Edd and Eddy sighed and looked irritated, and Ed came into the clearing, making howling noises with his mouth. "Arroooarooarooo..." He added.

Eddy jumped up and seized Ed's mouth. "Don't do that!" He yelled.

Ed's mouth stayed squished together. "Sorry..." He said, then held up a chicken. "I found Nestor, we can go home now."

Edd rubbed his head, and then froze, staring up. "Uh, oh..." He said.

"What? Oh, man..." Eddy followed Edd's sight, noticed the sky, and stared at Edd.

The moon, the full moon, had risen high enough to come into the clearing and have the Eds were standing in its light.s

Edd winced, and Ed and Eddy stared in shock as he again curled up and seemed to mutate before them.

"Double D's doing it again..." Ed commented.

Edd's hat fell off, and he stood on all fours wobbly, a wolf again.

"Well, I think we know it's not just 'cause of going to other worlds..." Eddy decided, leaning down to pick up the hat. "I'll keep this, so we don't lose it." He added, and then put it in his pocket.

Edd nodded, then Ed yawned. "We need to get going, guys. Or we'll miss the sleepover..."

"'Kay..." Eddy replied, and with a last glance at Edd, shook his head and started walking the way they had come from.

The three walked along for several minutes silently, each thinking.

/So, what do we say t' get the kids off our backs…? Or should we just buy Kevin off to shut up…/ Eddy wondered.

/This is... absolutely surreal. Once could have been our imagination, but again? How is this happening…? Why/ Edd thought.

/Hmmm… Huh…? Hello? _Hello? _Who's there? _Who's there?_ Ed! _Ed!_ Quit copyin' me! _Quit copyin' me!_ No, you! _No y-_ STOP/ Ed argued with himself, then pouted and stopped thinking.

"Hi, guys. Whose dog is that?" Jonny asked suddenly.

"Ah!" Eddy screamed, jumping in the air and whirling around. There, out of nowhere, Jonny was standing in the middle of the path, holding Plank and smiling at them.

Man, but Jonny was creepy when he snuck up and smiled at you.

"Don't do that!" Ed exclaimed. "I thought you were one of the mutant sausages, come to---"

"Ed, shut up..." Eddy moaned.

Jonny stared for a second, and then repeated, "Whose dog is that?"

"Um..." Eddy said, glancing at Edd, "It's, uh, my uncle's. Yeah. We're walking him for two bucks..."

"REALLY? Two whole dollars? That's cool... But, um, it's getting close to the time that you guys are gonna be expected, and Nazz sent me to find you..." Jonny said.

/That _we're_ expected…? That means that everyone else is there... and they really didn't believe us…/ Edd thought, looking down solemnly.

"Oh, we were already headed back." Eddy replied.

"Okay. Hey," Jonny looked around curiously, "Where's Double D? Isn't he coming too?"

"Uh---" Eddy started, then Ed interrupted. "No, his parents had plans, and they brought him with them."

"Gotcha. Well, see you guys later!" Jonny said, than ran off ahead.

Eddy shook his head. "Well, what's our story gonna be? They won't believe us if we tell the truth, so we've gotta figure something else out..."

Ed and Edd shook their heads, having no ideas available or able to share.

/Chances are that if we told them the truth and tried to prove it… Everyone would get too distracted to pay attention to our more immediate concerns-ah/

"Hiya, boys." Lee's voice suddenly said from in the trees. She and May laughed manically, and jumped out to block the Eds from running down the path.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" May asked.

"Um, heh, heh..." Eddy said nervously, the three bunching together in the middle. He and Ed started sweating, and Edd's fur stood up on his back.

"Oh! What a cute doggie! Can I have him?" May asked, running forward to pet the 'doggie', who crouched down and tried to back away.

"N-no, he's not mine..." Eddy stammered.

Lee frowned. "Give him to us." She commanded.

Eddy froze, and thought about it. /Give the dog… N-no! That's Double D…/ He thought furiously, and slowly shook his head. "No." He said with great effort.

The other two stared. "How'd he do that?" May asked.

"I don't know..." Lee replied, then grinned and held up a ten dollar bill. "Ten bucks, then."

/TEN DOLLARS?…/ Eddy's mouth salivated, until he remembered that they had made fifteen dollars before. "N-no, he's not for sale..." He said with an even greater effort.

Lee frowned, looking really mad. "Twenty dollars. You _really_ want to sell him to me!" She exclaimed, and Eddy's will-power broke.

"Okay, then. Give the money to me first." He said in the business-voice that he used during scams.

/Wha-What…? Eddy, _what are you thinking?_/ Edd thought frantically, watching Eddy accept the twenty dollar bill. He backed up into Ed.

"Give him to me, Ed..." May said.

"Come on, puppy..." Ed chimed, picking Edd up. "Here ya go." He said, handing Edd to May.

"Okay, May, bring 'im back home." Lee said, turning to Ed and Eddy. "Now, then, where were you boys going?"

Edd struggled as May carried him back into the woods. /You guys! Don't… Don't do this…! STOP/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nazz looked bored, and Kevin was irritated. "When are they gonna get here?" He complained.

Someone knocked on the door, and Rolf ran to open it. "Hello?" He asked.

Jonny came in. "They're on their way, or at least Ed and Eddy are."

"Where's Double D?" Jimmy whimpered.

"Out with his parents, but I didn't ask where..." Jonny replied.

"Oh well... Anyway, we need to know everything we can before the Eds get here." Kevin decided.

"Huh?" Nazz asked, looking puzzled. "Why?"

"I bet they do know what's going on, and that they'll try to charge us to make them talk." Kevin replied.

The group nodded.

"Probably..." Rolf said.

"That sounds like Eddy, the jerk... This is important, too!" Sarah complained.

Kevin nodded, then turned to Jonny. "Alright, what do you know?"

Jonny grew thoughtful. "Well, you see, the Eds built this machine, that lets them travel into different universes--"

"WHAT?" They all exclaimed.

"How did they do that?" Nazz asked.

Jonny shrugged. "I don't know, but Plank says they've been to at least three. He got bored of watching them when they walked out to the shed of one of those other world's Rolf... Anyway, from the start..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

/This is insane… I turned into a wolf, and have been sold to the Kankers by my best friends… For twenty dollars…/ Edd thought mournfully as Lee and May brought him into the trailer.

"Stay in here!" May commanded, tossing Edd into an open-topped cage. He lay there for a moment, feeling rather depressed.

/Hey, you jerks! Let me out already/ Someone yelled nearby Edd's head.

He opened an eye and looked up cautiously. There, a dog about his size was yelling at the Kankers.

/Wait. Yelling…/ Edd thought vaguely, and slowly sat up.

/_Get your stinkin' butts in here!_/ The dog yelled, then noticed him. /Oh, no… Don't get any ideas, you mangy dog…/

Edd blinked. /Dog… That dog is talking…I can understand a dog/ He wondered, and then stared at the dog. /What's going on? And must you yell so loudly…/

/Wha, what? Y-you can _talk_/ The dog asked, clearly startled.

/Of course I can, any human c--/ Edd replied. He stopped, realizing what he had said. If he was now understanding dogs, it probably would be as unintelligent to let slip that he _wasn't a dog, as unintelligent_ as it was for Eddy to mock Kevin.

/Human…? You mean, you're human? Normally/ The dog exclaimed.

"Yo, keep it down it there, or else!" Lee yelled from another room.

/W-Well, yes… I was outside, and the mo--/ Edd began to explain.

/Moonlight shone on you, and you changed---right…/ the dog finished.

They stared at each other.

/We need to get out of here, goodness knows what the Kanker Sisters will do to us./ Edd immediately stated.

/Yeah, these two have gone totally out of control... I don't know what happened./ The not-dog added.

/So-you must live near here, right/ Edd asked as he looked around at the bars of the cage.

/Well, yeah... How did they get a hold of me/ She replied, in a tone illustrating that it was obvious. The girl-wolf then came over to look where he was looking. /These look a little too strong.../

Edd glanced at her. /--Her? How'd I know she's a girl...? Can I smell the difference or something/ He shook off the random thought. /That's true, ramming them probably wouldn't work well./ He thought, and then pulled himself on the side of the cage, stretching as far up as he could. /Could we jump over this…/

"Stay in that cage." May said, walking by with some cake.

/A little high, but it should be manageable…/ Edd muttered, getting down. He found that the girl 'dog' was staring at him oddly. /What/

/You can't get out now, she told you to stay in…/ She reminded him.

/She told Jonny and Kevin to keep singing, but they stopped… And Eddy didn't go and sell me to them, not at first… I think we can manage./ Edd said.

She froze. /Y-You know Eddy…/

/Well, yes, he's one of my best friends… Or was, anyway. I'm not entirely certain about now./ He said, feeling puzzled at her reaction. She certainly didn't behave like any of the cul-de-sac girls, was she someone from school?

/So… You're one of the 'Eds'/ She continued cautiously.

/Yeah, he's one of my best friends/ He replied. Really, he didn't blame her for being nervous. Likely as it was that she was from one of the surrounding neighborhoods--well, everyone knew Eddy. That didn't mean they liked him. /I'm Double D--it's awkward to call me 'Edd' when there's another Ed in the neighborhood, after all./

Her eyes widened. /Oh.. my.../ She tilted her head, and appeared to smile. /Well… Huh. And those two bought you to be a 'companion' for me…? That's… Weird. Who woulda thought./

She paused, then shook her head. /Anyway, if you think we can get out, _how_ do you think we can/

He looked around again, and then got an idea. /Well, we can always get out through that window, over there… If we can get up that high, at least./ Edd suggested.

/What…? That's like.. I don't know, four feet high? And a little small for a… A dog, or a wolf, or whatever we are/ She exclaimed.

/Don't think we can…? It's not as though we have a plethora of alternatives…/ He said, in a jokingly challenging tone. /If you want, you can use me for a base to jump up from…/

/Yeah, well… Not my fault if you can't get up after me…/ She decided, and then walked over to him. She leapt onto his back and into the window. /Sweet, that worked. So, big helpful boy, how were you planning to get out/

/I... I was going to jump, too. I suppose pulling myself up if I don't get all the way up will be a bit difficult, but.../ Edd backed up, ready to spring.

"Hey! Lee, they're getting away!" May yelled, running over.

"What!" Lee exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. "Stay in there, you stupid dogs!" She continued, running into the room.

The other werewolf had already left the window--though whether to clear the space or to get out of there quickly, Edd didn't know.

/No thank you, Lee… I've spent about enough time in this trailer…/ Edd thought, jumping as high as he could as May tripped over the cage and fell below him.

/Let's go/ The dog exclaimed, apparently having waited for him just outside, and the two jumped out and ran as fast as they could.

"Get back here, Marie!" Lee screamed, then the two ran out of hearing.

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"Hello, everyone!" Ed exclaimed as he and Eddy walked in.

"What took you dorks so long?" Kevin complained.

"Figured, hey! You guys have been here so long, that you wouldn't mind waiting a little more. Sorry..." Eddy said sarcastically as he stuck his stuff in a corner of the room.

"Well, you're here now. So, what have you guys been doing?" Nazz asked.

Ed looked at Jonny. "What did you say?" He asked.

Rolf looked astonished. "Ed-boy? How did you know Jonny has already told his part of the tale?"

"Why else would you guys have gone behind our backs and come early?" Eddy asked slyly. No one answered, and he smiled.

"Um, I told everything I saw, then what Plank told me..." Jonny answered.

"Which was...?" Eddy pressed.

"You guys going into that shed..." Jonny finished.

"Ah... Well, let's see... We had a little meeting, where I said we would leave soon, since it didn't seem like we'd make any money there. I asked Double D if we'd get in trouble for getting home late, since it was night there and we were going to sleep til their morning. He said no, so we relaxed and hung out the whole night---"

"I slept with Bessie." Ed commented.

The group stared at him. "Um..." Nazz started.

"Who is this 'Bessie'?" Rolf asked.

"The cow." Ed said, grinning vacantly.

No one else spoke aloud, staring.

"Yeah, Ed is weird, Plank..." Jonny commented in reply to the piece of wood.

Eddy blinked, then shook his head. "Anyway, we stayed there 'til morning and went to check out the trailer park, to see if what that Rolf said was true. You see, that guy had said that in their world, there were only **two** Eds, Ed and I. And that there _was_ a kid like Double D around, who didn't live in the cul-de-sac, but in the TRAILER PARK."

"WHAT?" Jimmy, Sarah, Kevin, and Nazz exclaimed.

"Weird! Why would Double D live there?" Jonny asked.

Eddy shrugged. "I don't know... After we went, and checked it out, we found that there were a lot of kids there, the Kankers, Double D, although they just called him Edward, and some other boys. They caught us, so we told them about here, and why Double D looked like 'Edward', and then we came home. Ed ate a mushroom, so Double D said he'd give Lumpy some medicine, and we heard really bad singing, so we checked it out. That's about it."

"That's it? Sure you're not leaving anything out? Like why you were late?" Kevin said in a dangerous tone.

Ed sniffled. "Nestor ran away, so I went out to get him, and Double D and Eddy came to find me, and we came back."

"Huh? What about the dog? And I didn't see Double D with you at all!" Jonny exclaimed.

"Hang on!" Eddy exclaimed. "Look, I went to tell Double D that Ed here had run off after his chicken, and he told me that we'd have to be quick, since he was going with his parents. I got the dog from outside, where I had him tied on a leash, and we went to find Ed. Double D got tired of looking after a little while, told me good luck, and left. I kept looking, Ed snuck up on me, and we took a nice, slow pace home. Then, we got our stuff from our houses and came here. OKAY?" Eddy demanded, finished telling his story.

The group looked thoughtful. "I suppose that makes sense, but we'll have to check it with Double D." Nazz decided. "_He_ of all people definitely wouldn't be lying to us."

"Okay, then. So, what happened to you guys before we got back?" Eddy asked, and Kevin leaned back to explain.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Edd and the other dog stopped running by the swimming hole. He panted, out of breath, while she sat down and looked out at the view.

When he had his breath back, he looked up at her. /She called you… Marie… You're _Marie? Marie Kanker/_ He exclaimed, startled.

She nodded, and he stared.

/But… Why would they do that, if you're their sister/ He asked.

She looked down awkwardly. /I… Their revenge on me, I guess. I'm usually the one beating _them_ up, so... And now they've got this power to tell people what to do. They made me move around and stuff no matter how much I tried not to.../

/Then--that was _real_? It never affected me./ Edd said, completely confused by now. /All of this makes so little sense... People with the ability to command others? Werewolves? We even ran into a vampire in one of those other worlds... Is that going to start happening here/

She looked puzzled. /Other worlds/

/Umm.../ He contemplated an explanation, and decided against it for the time being. /It's a long story how, but Ed, Eddy, and I built a machine to travel to other universes… And ever since we came back, everything's gone like one of Ed's comic books.../

They sat there silently for several minutes, gazing out and thinking.

/They were going to... change you guys, ya know./ She muttered, lying down and staring out over the water.

/Change us... in what way/ Edd didn't follow the immediate

/Tell you guys to love us, completely love us. Of course, I don't think they'll be helping _me_ out anymore.../ She sounded forlorn, and Edd didn't know what to say. She looked over at him. /Didn't do you much good, though, did it? Got away from two 'Kanker sisters', just to be stuck here with the third./

He sighed again, and looked at her. /Marie, I have… no issue with you, or your sisters, personally. It's simply… Bad history between the 'Kankers and the Eds' that has us running from you every time…/

Marie started, and then looked down, silent for a moment. /'No issue'…? So, like… You don't find us disgusting, or 'trailer trash', or anything/

This comment struck Edd's standards of honor and chivalry, and so forth. /N-no, certainly not! I don't particularly appreciate the trailer park itself, it's not incredibly clean, but… Oh! I'm not saying that _you're_ not clean, I already know that you… You bath, and… all…/ Edd grimaced slightly, feeling horrible, and waiting for an explosion of anger. Instead, she started giggling.

/What/ He wondered, rather confused.

/It's so _silly_… If we hadn't been chasin' you guys, you'd never have _run_… And maybe the six of us would be going out now./ She started laughing out right, and he chuckled slightly in appreciation of the idea-especially after seeing 'Edward' and **Marie**.

/Indeed, that might have helped make the difference… If we had been more polite in that first encounter, in your home, I can guarantee that things would have gone differently./ Edd said.

/Oh, come on… We were practically stalking you guys! You had never even _seen_ us before, and yet we had really good drawings an' all. How can you think it's your fault/ Marie asked, looking up at him from where she was lying.

/But we _were_ rather rude to you three… Adding to that mess is the fact that every time we meet, one of our triads is chasing the other. Admittedly, usually you three pursuing us. I've never had the chance to apologize… So, I'm sorry./ Edd answered.

/Well… Thanks./ Marie said softly, then 'grinned' at him. /So, how about we meet again? I mean… If we didn't act like that, you boys prob'ly wouldn't have run off…/

/You mean, reintroduce ourselves? I suppose it could even count, I've never been introduced to the 'Wolf-woman' or whatever else Ed would decide to call you, if he were here…/ Edd said slyly. He gazed upward, an amusing thought coming to his mind. /In one of those other universes, we found a version of myself who was actually living in the trailer park, and good friends with you./

Her eyes widened as she took that idea in. /Friends, huh? So, um, we're both werewolves…/ Marie noticed. /And on the run from my sisters... We're in the same boat, so we might as well get friendlier, huh/

/I agree, it's a good, symbolic act in all of this./ He stretched slightly.

/Well, start talking then/ She said, commanding and giggling at the same time, sitting up.

/Okay… I'm Edd, or--/ Edd started.

/--'Double D. We know. You don't have to worry about that!'/ Marie finished, and then they both started laughing again.

/I don't know what I'm ever going to tell Ed or Eddy, though…/ Edd commented, vaguely amused by the prospect.

/That you've fallen madly, madly in love with me. That'll confuse them for a really time./ He looked alarmed, and she stuck out her tongue-somehow without cutting it on her canines.

They laughed again, and then Edd looked startled. /Wait, the sleepover/

/Sleepover…? What about it/ Marie asked.

He looked nervously at her. /Ed, Eddy, and I were to meet all the other kids in the cul-de-sac to explain everything we know about what's happening… If they tell about, about this-I would rather avoid this particular explanation, and not to mention if he says anything about running into the Kankers in the woods…/

/You think they'd really say everything…? It's Eddy, y' know…/ Marie said.

/But… If they start accusing him of being in league with your sisters… He'll say almost _any_thing to get out of a mess./ Edd started.

/So if he tell them, at the 'best' they think he's nuts… But if not, they'll think you're involved with May and Lee, and…/ Marie shivered, getting to her feet. /This is gonna get messy, huh/

/Exactly! We need to go stop the two of them, _now._/ Edd replied, and they ran towards the cul-de-sac as fast as they could.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Eddy yawned and leaned back on his pillow. "That's everything, then... and we don't know much more than we did before..." He complained.

"Oh, well..." Ed commented. "Nighty, nighty, nighty..."

"ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzz" Kevin started snoring.

"Oh, man..." Nazz complained. "Anyone have an extra pillow?"

"Sure thing, Nazz." Jonny said, handing it to her. "Plank doesn't need three."

"Thanks." She said, then stood up and carefully stuck the pillow in Kevin's mouth. "There we go."

Eddy snickered. "A pillow? Good idea..."

"Okay, let's go to sleep, it's already 9:17..." Sarah complained.

"Oh, fine..." Eddy muttered, and turned over.

The window was slowly pushed further open than it was by a canine's head, and Edd and Marie snuck in the room. It was dark, so no one noticed them creep behind a sofa.

/They're already asleep… We're too late./ Edd whispered.

/Just gotta hope they didn't say anything.../ Marie muttered in response

"Brrr… it's getting cold in here…" Jonny commented. "Wait, what's that, Plank? The window's open?"

"Eddy, can you close it? You're the closest..." Jimmy murmured.

Eddy muttered obscenities under his breath as he pulled himself up, went over, and closed it.

/Well, let's just stay the night, and hope for the best…/ Edd commented, curling up and closing his eyes.

Marie sat another moment, watching him.

/I can't believe this... it's almost too good to be true./ She thought gleefully, then curled up beside him and slept.

----------------------------------------

End of Part 4

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Edd: "So... You didn't like the original pie scene anymore, huh?"

Ed: "Chickens are better than pie... Even if it is just demented chickens."

Eddy: "It was the kid's hair... Not a chicken..."

KK (shrugs): The scene spoke to me, as I tried to draw what Tom, Robbie, and Will look like. Will I liked, Robbie I had to redo since green hair suits Jonny better than him, and Tom..."

Eddy: "A demented chicken?"

KK: "The red mohawk made me think of a chicken! Or... it made me think of Ed thinking of a chicken. A rooster, really, but people tend to just say chicken..."

Edd: "Ah well."

Eddy (grins suddenly, looks sideways at Edd.): "So, little Double D's growing up... Found himself a Kanker, huh?"

Edd (frowning): "More like you sold me to her, but however you want to put it, Eddy..."

KK: "You guys have no idea how annoyed I am with that whole scene... How many times the conversations between Marie and Edd got re-written, since I never wrote it down on paper, and I lost the original save file... Fanfiction back then made what I was using for thought representation into HTML stuff, so the original versions of those conversations were nearly lost forever. I only JUST—after two YEARS—found them at a smaller site, and went back to fix them. Frustrating."

Edd: "But... Why Marie? Why not Nazz, or even Sarah? Heck, the show's writers stuck me with _May_ of all people in that one episode-"

KK (cringes): "Well, nothing ever made me think that May was smart, or into science... Marie always struck me as the smartest of the Kankers, and since you were originally hooked up with her when the Kankers first arrived to Peach Creek..."

Eddy (shivers): "And those drawings... and the roller coaster... The Kankers scare us, why hook any of us up with them?"

Ed (in a deep, philosophical and intelligent sounding voice): "This story has a good amount of bonding and reaching out between the people who had themselves to be forever ostracized from one another, as we grow and realize there are more important things in life..."

Edd (blinks) "..."

Eddy (blinks) "..."

KK: "...something _some_ people never seem to learn, since the only time we ever get taught that is with stories-in whatever medium-that when we 'grow up' we don't consider at all seriously anymore..."

Edd and Eddy blink again.

Eddy: "...Yeah... Okay. You guys hang out and chat about that, I'm not listening to it..."

KK: "Well, I don't want that to be the point of the story by any means… It's more a story in its own right, and people will take from it what they do. I'm not skilled enough yet to guide the impressions all different people will get. At least those conversations are better off now…"

Edd: "...Actually, how about this-everyone, please read and review!" (waves out of the forth wall).


	5. And they continue

It occurred to me as I was writing this one; I never put in the disclaimer...

So here goes: I don't, never have, and never will own 'Ed, Edd, n Eddy'.

I'll warn all of you now; some of the kids won't be acting like they usually do. With some of them, it's the point. With a few others… eh, I'm not perfect.

Eddy: "But you know I am, right?"

Edd (dryly): "Of course you are, Eddy...

Ed: "Hey guys... When did I come back?"

Edd and Eddy look over, bemused.

Edd: "Actually—we were running from him the start of the last chapter… yet, at the end of it, he commented on the chicken."

Ed made the Twilight Zone noise.

Eddy: "Riiiight…"

The Secret of Edd Part 5

"Shoot! Where could it be?" Edd's voice said frantically.

Marie yawned. "What's going on?" She glanced down, trying to remember why Edd would be relaxed around her. Then remembered the last night.

/Oh yeah—and HEY! I've got clothes on! Good thing…/

"It can't have gone far... why now, of all times? When I'm surrounded by every kid in the cul-de-sac..." Edd said, and Marie felt her pillow get pulled out from under her head.

"Ow! Hey, what's the big idea?" She exclaimed, sitting up. /…And when did I grab a pillow/

"Shh! Everyone else is still asleep!" Edd said, then poked his head under the sofa, reaching around desperately.

"What are you looking for?" She asked, putting a hand up to cover a yawn.

He pulled his head out and stared at her, obviously frightened. "Do I really need to say it?" He whispered hoarsely.

She looked puzzled, then stared at him in shock. "Y-your..." She whispered.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"That's why..." Marie started, giving his head another good look.

The source of her shock was obvious; his hat was not on his head.

Instead, she could see dark bluish-purple hair on his head. It stood out on his head in a rough haircut that was long for a boy's.

He looked down with an ashamed look on his face.

"Did you dye it? And the color hasn't come out? That's not a big deal..." Marie asked.

"No, well, yes... I've tried dying it black, so it'd look a little more normal, but that never seems to work... This is the way it naturally looks..." Edd whispered.

"That's natural?" She whispered loudly.

He didn't answer.

She tilted her head, looking at it again, then grinned. "Well, it's cool looking."

He froze, and looked at her abruptly. His mouth opened, then closed, and he shook his head.

"Now, where do you suppose your hat went?" Marie asked.

He gave a small smile, and then looked thoughtful. "Well, last time I had it on was last night, and... Oh dear..." He turned to look at Eddy. "And Eddy took it so I wouldn't lose it..." He finished.

---------------------------------------------------

"Eddy!" A voice said from above his head.

Eddy rolled over and smiled. "Don't worry, girl, you can just give me twice the money next... week..." He trailed off and started snoring again.

"Eddy, I must insist that you awaken immediately!" The voice persisted.

"Why are ya using such big words, Nazz?" Eddy murmured.

Someone giggled off to the side, and the voice above him sighed. "Eddy, please, wake up already..."

"Huh...?" Eddy muttered, opening his eyes. It was still dark out, but he could vaguely see someone standing above him. "Who's there?"

"Honestly, if you can't recognize my voice by now..." Edd said irritably. The shape moved to the side of the room, and a blinding light filled the area as the lamp turned on.

"Ow!" Eddy exclaimed, and someone covered his mouth from behind.

"Shhh!" Edd hissed, looking extremely nervous.

Eddy nodded, and the person removed his hand. "What was that for... MARIE?" Eddy whispered when he twirled around.

She shook her head. "This is serious, Eddy." She said firmly.

"Why are you..." Eddy trailed off, gazing at Edd's head. "Um, Double D..."

Edd glared at him. "Eddy, I believe you have something of mine...?"

Eddy continued staring. "Where's your hat?" He asked faintly.

"Oh, come on, you took it, don't play stupid." Marie said, glaring at him.

One of the kids near Eddy stirred, and Edd froze, putting a hand up to his head. "Oh dear, Eddy, please..." He said.

"What are you talking about...?" Eddy finally asked in a normal voice.

"My hat, you took it, now can you please give it back?" Edd said in a rushed tone, glancing at the others.

Nazz stretched and yawned.

"Oh my!" Edd squeaked, and with a final desperate look at Eddy, pulled his shirt up over his hair and wrapped it around like a turban.

Marie backed into a dark corner of the room, hidden in the shadows.

Nazz opened her eyes and looked around vaguely. "Hmm...? Time to wake up already?" She murmured, and then looked over at Edd and Eddy. "Hi, Double D. Um... Why aren't you wearing your shirt?"

Edd started sweating nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, well, you see, I-I don't have my hat on, a-and I'm not going to be around other people without it..." He said nervously, letting out a deep breath.

Nazz looked puzzled. "Why aren't you wearing it?"

Edd looked at Eddy cautiously, then said, "Eddy took it."

"Huh?" Eddy exclaimed, looking up at Edd. "What are you talking about?"

Nazz frowned. "Hey, that's totally not cool, Eddy. I don't know why Double D always wears it, but I wasn't going to just pull it off to find out. I respect people's privacy, and so should you." She lectured.

Eddy stared, completely bewildered. "But... I-I already knew... and I didn't take it off his head, I--"

"No, you don't. Double D wouldn't lie about that type of thing, and you know it. Stop being such a jerk, and give it back to him." Nazz interrupted.

"But..." Eddy whispered hoarsely.

Edd reached over into Eddy's bag, searched around, and pulled out his hat. He glanced at Eddy, then turned away and stuck it under his shirt and proceeded to cover his hair with it before pulling his shirt down.

Jimmy sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He murmured.

Eddy glanced at Edd's watch. "Um... 6:31..."

A rooster crowed from Rolf's house, and the rest of the kids woke up.

"Ow! Dang rooster, Rolf, can't you make it be quieter?" Kevin complained, putting his hat on.

"Rolf is wise enough to know that you never argue with the doodles, Kevin." Rolf replied slowly.

"Well, I hope you guys don't plan to leave making breakfast to me." Nazz complained, standing up and walking to her kitchen.

"I'll help, Nazz." Sarah said, then grabbed Jimmy's arm. "Come on, Jimmy."

"Okay, Sarah..." He said, only to be dragged into the next room.

"Hey, why is there a wet pillow over here?" Kevin asked suddenly, picking Plank's pillow.

"Cause it was in your mouth..." Eddy commented slyly.

"HUH?" He exclaimed, staring at Eddy, then the pillow.

Everyone except for Kevin and Edd started laughing.

"In his mouth?" Edd asked.

"Yeah..." Eddy snickered.

"You were snoring really loud... and Nazz stuffed it in your mouth... so she could sleep in peace..." Jonny explained between laughing.

Kevin glared evilly at the group. "Oh, that's really funny..." He muttered.

"Yes, it is..." Ed announced slowly.

Kevin frowned deeper and tossed the pillow against the wall as the laughing slowly died down.

Eddy was still grinning, and commented, "Ed, it's not like you can say anything about all this..."

Edd groaned. "Yes, I'm sure Ed's snoring is worse than Kevin's..."

"Hey, how would you know, anyway? You never go to sleepovers with the rest of us..." Kevin asked suspiciously.

"For Nazz to have lost her temper and thrust a pillow into your mouth, it must have been bad." Several kids snickered, and Kevin looked mad. Edd continued coolly, "But, Ed's snoring, that's simply unbearable. I don't think yours could have possibly been worse..."

Eddy nodded. "Tell me about it..."

Edd looked thoughtful, then startled, and grabbed Eddy's arm.

"Huh?" Eddy exclaimed. "What?"

"How much did you tell them?" Edd asked.

"Everything..." Eddy said, giving Edd a strange look.

Edd froze. "Everything...?" He squeaked.

"Yeah, everything about the gate, and the other worlds..." Eddy replied slowly.

Edd's expression became distressed. "You-you did leave out some... significant details... right?"

Eddy looked confused. "Significant details?"

"Did you guys not tell us everything?" Jonny asked.

"Important things..." Edd said persisted firmly, ignoring the others.

"Such as...?" Eddy slowly asked.

Edd stared. "Don't you even remember...?"

Ed came over. "I remember that Double D is really bad at baseball." He commented seriously.

"Remember what? What's going on, dorks?" Kevin demanded, looking suspicious again.

Eddy shrugged, and Ed scratched his head.

"Double D? What's going on?" Jonny asked.

Edd shook his head. "I-I'll explain later... I need to talk to Ed and Eddy for a while, alone..."

"Breakfast!" Nazz's voice called from the kitchen.

The boys glanced at Edd again, and the all went in to get some food.

-----------------------------------------

"Nazz sure makes good waffles..." Ed commented as they walked down the street slowly.

"Indeed. Though, I believe I had one of Jimmy's... it fell apart before I could eat it..." Edd added, and then went into deep thought.

"Yeah, Jimmy can't cook. But, then again, your sister's not much better, Ed..." Eddy replied.

"Shh!" Ed exclaimed, putting a finger to his lip and covering Eddy's mouth. "Sarah may be listening to us, even as we speak..." He commented, glancing around the neighborhood in a paranoid fashion.

"Oh, who cares!" Eddy exclaimed, pulling Ed's hand off his mouth. He then turned to Edd. "So, what were you talking about earlier, Double D?"

Edd started in surprise. "Huh?"

"What... were... you... talk-ing... about...?" Eddy slowly and carefully pronounced each word.

"Um..." Edd grimaced slightly. "Well, actually, why don't you tell me what you remember from yesterday?"

The three walked down to Edd's house while Eddy talked to Edd. He told Edd everything that he had told the other kids.

Edd listened silently, not interrupting. When Eddy finished, he stood in silence and shock. "So..." He opened the door and walked in. "You two honestly don't remember?" He asked softly, and went upstairs to toss his bag into his room.

"Remember what?" Eddy asked when he came down. "Did you see something that Ed and I didn't?"

They walked slowly out of the house towards the middle of the street.

"No..." Edd said, and then glanced at Eddy, puzzled. "Eddy, do you have a twenty dollar bill?"

Eddy raised an eyebrow. "Of all the stupid questions, Double D..." He muttered as he reached into his pockets. "Huh? What's this?" He asked, and pulled out the twenty dollars. His eyes widened and watered slightly—as did his mouth. "Wh-when did I get this?"

Edd sighed. "You guys bring your stuff to your houses, then I'll try to explain..."

They split up, Ed and Eddy to their houses, while Edd sat on the sidewalk across the street from his house.

Several minutes later, they met up again.

"Well?" Eddy asked expectantly.

Edd swallowed and stood up. "Well... You remember in the world with Edward? How we stayed in Rolf's shed?"

"Yeah." Ed replied.

Edd slowly started walking down the road, and the other two followed him.

"And, after our little meeting, I went to the doorway?" Ed and Eddy nodded. Well, after that point, my memory and yours' seem to... differ..."

"You don't remember something?" Eddy asked, then noticed Edd's expression. "We don't?"

By then, they had reached the entrance to the park. Edd led them in, towards the swings.

"Well, I started thinking..." Edd began

"Big surprise." Eddy commented sarcastically, grinning innocently when Edd glared at him.

"I thought about everything that we've been doing, what we say, that kind of thing. Then about my parents, and your parents, and--- about you leaving..." Edd trailed off softly, looking at the ground before him.

Eddy looked solemn. "Who knows, we still might be able to talk them into letting me stay..."

Edd shook his head sadly and continued. He suddenly jumped in surprise and looked forward, startled. Howling broke out from the woods far ahead.

"Stupid coyotes..." Eddy muttered.

"Not a coyote... a wolf..." Edd replied quietly.

Eddy blinked. "How do you know...?" He asked slowly.

"Um, well, you see--" Edd started.

"Hi, guys." Nazz said, walking over with Kevin.

"Ugh! Come on..." Edd groaned, slapping his forehead in frustration.

Nazz looked puzzled. "What, did we interrupt something?"

"Never mind, Nazz... Just, never mind..." Edd muttered, walking to the swings and sitting on one.

"By the way, when are you dorks gonna finish explaining?" Kevin asked irritably.

"Dorks?" Ed asked.

"Whenever you leave..." Edd muttered under his breath.

"Huh? What'd you say?" Kevin asked.

Edd looked up, clearly annoyed. "After I have a chance to talk to Ed and Eddy without being watched and listened to the whole time." He shook his head, then started swinging.

"Hello, Ed-boys..." Rolf commented as he walked by.

"Hi, Rolf..." Eddy replied.

"Hiya!" Ed exclaimed, jumping onto the swing next to Edd.

"Ed! Be careful! You almost knocked this over!" Edd exclaimed as the entire swing set began swaying.

"Sorry..." Ed said, and sat down on the seat.

Rolf stared at them, concerned. "What is wrong with the brainy Ed- boy? He did not greet Rolf like his usual self..."

Edd started swinging. "My apologies, Rolf... Nothing's wrong..." He said.

Jonny walked over. "Hi guys... What's that, Plank?"

Eddy glanced over at Edd, who was beginning to look _really_ annoyed… But it was Double D, he wasn't gonna say anything. Unless he got all angry again.

"_Why_ did you four follow us here? How long til the squirts show up, hmm?" Eddy asked, hinting at them in hopes of getting them away. Unless he was mistaken, Edd's eye was beginning to twitch.

He was ignored as Jonny frowned, and lifted Plank up.

"Plank? Answer me!" Jonny exclaimed, glaring angrily at the piece of wood in his hands.

Edd stopped swinging abruptly and stared at them, without saying anything.

"What's up, Double D?" Eddy asked, and the others looked curiously over at him.

Edd looked over at Jonny, then rested his gaze on Plank silently. He slowly turned pale.

"Plank...?" Jonny asked slowly.

"Come on, Double D, what's with you…?" Eddy wanted to know. He jumped as Jonny suddenly yelled.

"Plank! What are you doing? A-are you talking to _Double D_?"

"What?" Kevin exclaimed.

"Huh?" Nazz asked, looking back and forth at Edd and Plank.

"Oh my..." Edd whispered hoarsely, and everyone stared at him. "How did you know...?"

"Uh, Double D?" Ed asked.

"Ed-boy?"

"Double dork, what are you doing?"

Edd slowly stood up, still staring at Plank.

"Why won't you answer me, Plank?" Jonny cried frantically. He looked up at Edd, then down at the piece of wood. "Whatever you're saying to Double D, stop, it's making him act weird…"

"No... I... I wouldn't do that..." Edd said softly.

"Maybe this isn't Plank, but an alien scout who wants to abduct Double D and bring him back to the mother ship, where they will dissect his brain and feed his body to their pets..." Ed commented.

"I don't think I'd be that surprised..." Kevin replied.

"They'd never do that to me..." Edd whispered, then paused.

The others stared in anticipation.

"Whom is he speaking to?" Rolf asked. "Kevin, or Plank?"

"Y-you're wrong... I'll never do that... NEVER!" Edd suddenly screamed.

Plank seemed to jump out of Jonny's hand, into the air, only to fall down onto the grass. Jonny stared, looked down at his hands, and ran over. "Plank!"

Edd remained standing, and shook his head. He looked over at the others, and his eyes fixed on Ed and Eddy. "Guys..." He whispered, then his eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

"Double D!" Eddy exclaimed.

--------------------------------

"Ugh..." Edd muttered, his eyes still closed.

"You're awake?" A familiar voice asked from above.

"Uh-huh..." Edd replied, slowly opening his eyes. Everything was fuzzy.

"You gave us a scare, ya know that?" The short figure beside him asked.

"...Where am I?" He asked.

The figure stood there silently for a minute. "In your room... don't you recognize it?"

Edd chuckled softly, and then froze when a pain went through his chest. "I can't exactly see..."

A taller figure walked over. "That's because it's dark in here." He said slowly and carefully.

Edd smiled. /It's not dark, just blurry. Thanks for trying, though./ He thought, then rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times.

Everything slowly came into focus, and Edd looked over at them. There, Ed and Eddy were watching him nervously.

"Hey..." He said reassuringly.

"You're okay? I mean, you were unconscious for a few minutes, and you hit your head, and--" Eddy stammered quickly, only for Ed to cover his mouth.

"Eddy was worried about you..." Ed commented.

Edd grinned and slowly sat up. "Really? I couldn't tell..."

Eddy pried Ed's hand off his face. "Well, um... heh heh..." Eddy trailed off and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Um, do you feel okay?"

"Well... I've heard that having a concussion usually gives temporary memory loss..." Edd said wryly.

Ed looked nervous. "Really? Uh... Who am I?" He asked Edd expertly.

"Ed..." Edd answered calmly.

"Who am I?" Eddy continued.

"Eddy... Besides, what does asking me that accomplish? Ed just called you Eddy, so even if I didn't remember, I would have been able to figure out who you are..." He said, slightly annoyed.

"Who are you?" Ed asked.

"Good question..." Edd said, looking up thoughtfully.

Ed and Eddy gasped, and stared at each other nervously.

Edd giggled. "Kidding! Just kidding! But what name should I give? Edward? Edd? Double D? Sockhead? Dork? Double Dork?"

Eddy sighed in relief. "Don't do that!"

Edd simply smiled at him, then looked thoughtful. "What exactly happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell us..." Eddy said.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Ed asked.

"Um... collapsing?" He said in a sarcastic voice, but was still smiling.

Eddy rolled his eyes. "Of all the times for you to become a smart- ass..."

"I would have figured you'd appreciate the fact that you've been rubbing off on me quite significantly..." Edd reminded him.

Eddy grinned. "Good point! But seriously, what's the last stuff you remember?"

Edd grew solemn. "Last thing I remember... we went to the park, and I was about to explain when we got interrupted from Nazz, Kevin, Rolf, and Jonny, and I heard--"

Eddy looked skeptical. "You mean, Plank was actually talking to you?"

"_Something_ was... I think it may well have been Plank. I mean, with some of the things that have been happening..." Edd said.

"Yeah, I know. You wouldn't be surprised. But, I don't think that annoying singing is enough of a reason..." Eddy replied.

Edd shook his head. "That's not all. What I've been trying to tell you is..." He sighed. "You see, we stayed in the shed, and I was thinking in the doorway... I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow the light of the full moon was shining on me, and..." He trailed off, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Full moon...?" Ed asked, then looked shocked. "You mean that--!"

"The light of the full moon, shining on me, and I looked down towards the ground, and noticed that my hand had gone all dark..." He shook slightly, then looked up at Ed and Eddy. "...And furry..."

"That's why you were all weird...?" Eddy whispered hoarsely.

"Does that mean that you're a werewolf?" Ed asked.

Edd nodded. "Basically... I started shrieking, and Eddy, you came over, and then noticed. Ed came in from chasing the chickens, and I fully changed, and, you fainted..."

Eddy stared at him for a minute, opened his mouth, then closed it. He paced around the room in deep thought. "Then..." He muttered, and turned to Edd. "Then why don't Ed and I remember any of this?"

"Maybe the Kankers, or Lee and May, anyway, had something to do with this..." Edd suggested.

"Um, we haven't seen them for a few days, Double D..." Ed commented.

Edd frowned and shook his head. "Not true, we met with them last night, after Jonny left."

"You weren't even with us then!" Eddy exclaimed.

Edd shrunk, covering his ears, then straightened and gave Eddy an uncharacteristic glare. "Last night was this world's full moon, Eddy. I was with you until a short way into the conversation with the Kankers..."

Ed jumped up and down enthusiastically. "Ooh! Ooh! I know, I know!" He exclaimed.

"What is it, Ed..." Eddy said between gritted teeth.

"Remember the dog?" Ed asked.

Edd nodded happily. "Very good, Ed. Just where you came to believe the 'walking the dog' story, I'm not yet sure, but that was me the entire time."

Eddy stared at Edd. "Then, the twenty bucks...?"

Edd smiled sarcastically, and spoke in an equally dry tone. "You sold me to Lee, at her request. You refused to give 'the dog' away for free, or ten dollars, but a twenty-dollar bill? Your will power broke then, and May brought me back to the trailer while Lee talked to you two, perhaps erasing all memory of... That's it!" Edd exclaimed suddenly. "Lee must have told you to forget everything in direct connection with 'the dog', making you remember most of the things that have happened, but nothing that was closely related to that!"

"That makes sense... but why would she do that?" Eddy asked.

"Because she knew that you didn't really want to make a sale, and if you remembered it, you would go back and get me..." Edd replied.

"Oh..." Ed said, then looked puzzled. "Double D? How could you suddenly be a werewolf if you weren't bitten?"

All three sat there silently.

"Um..." Eddy started.

"Good question..." Edd murmured.

"What important and significant detail are we missing that is keeping the answer to this mystery from us...?" Ed wondered.

"...Important detail?" Edd said, then looked startled. "Of course! I had forgotten all about until now, how obvious!" He exclaimed, springing out of bed.

"What?" Eddy asked, watching Edd run to his desk.

Edd opened one of the drawers and held something in his hand. "This... this might be the answer to all of this, but why...? Mother said two weeks, and it's only been four or five days..." He said to himself, then pulled it out and turned around. He was holding the immunization from a few days before.

"A shot?" Eddy asked, cringing away. "I hate needles..."

"A vaccination. Mother told me to administer it, but I wished to learn it's purpose, and contents, before doing so..." Edd replied.

"And...?" Eddy said slowly and questioningly.

"And--" Edd started.

"I found a sticky note!" Ed exclaimed, holding up the bone.

"Ed... That's a bone." Eddy commented.

"No, see?" He spun it around, and on the other side, a sticky note was stuck on the end.

Dear Edward, Apologies for the incorrect instructions.

You are to administer your vaccine today

-Mother

Edd read it, then looked really irritated. "I thought you said there were no sticky notes, Eddy?" He demanded.

"When's this from?" Eddy asked, taking the bone from Ed and Edd.

"I don't know... two days ago?" Edd replied in an odd tone.

"Ah. The last time you did your chores was three days ago, right?" Eddy continued.

"Um, yes..." Edd replied, no longer angry, but now confused by the line of questioning.

Eddy nodded slowly. "Well, then... Double D, have your parents said or done anything... suspicious... lately? Besides this note?"

"No, Eddy, they..." He trailed off, remembering the conversation from a few days before. "Except..."

"Except?" Eddy echoed. "Except for what?"

"Five days ago, at night, I left my room to get a glass of water, and I heard my parents talking..." Edd began.

"You? Eavesdropping on your parents? Man, I'm having more of an affect on you than I thought!" Eddy exclaimed.

Edd groaned. "Anyway, they were talking about me, and saying stuff like 'he's mature enough to know', that kind of thing..." He explained.

"Uh, oh..." Ed said.

"What?" Edd asked.

"Oh, man... I knew your parents were bad news, being government scientists, probably close to the CIA and whoever does the X-files, but this? This is just wrong..." Eddy murmured.

Edd frowned. "For your information, Eddy, only Father works for the government. Mother, however--"

"Works for the government-run hospital that was 'recently closed for unknown reasons'." Eddy challenged. "Or didja already forget about that?"

Edd glared. "I haven't approved of this little interrogation from the start, Eddy, but now you've simply crossed the line. Mother's job has nothing to do with this!"

His friends groaned. "Do your parents keep files of all their experiments and stuff?" Eddy asked.

"Yes, in their room, but..." He went silent, realizing what Eddy meant. "E-eddy, th-that's preposterous..." He whispered.

Eddy watched him sadly. "Double D, purple isn't a natural hair color, and you know as well as I do. Better than I, even. It's just not possible..." He said softly.

"But..." Edd whispered even softer, a vast depression falling over him.

He fell into deep thought. He shook his head and looked up at the other two.

"Let's check those files before jumping to any conclusions..." Ed suggested wisely, putting his hands on both Edd and Eddy's shoulders reassuringly.

They both quietly nodded and all three walked into Edd's parent's room.

"This is..." Edd started, slowly lifting the cover of a jewelry box.

"Huh...? Whoa!" Eddy exclaimed as part of the wall opened. There, some moved boards had revealed a door of a shut safe.

Edd walked over to it and spun the dial to twelve. "Science..." He whispered.

The safe clicked, and the door slowly opened. "Cool..." Ed commented.

Edd pulled it further open and flipped a switch inside it. There, a small room met their eyes, with a computer, a spinning office chair, a large pile of random papers and a large file cabinet.

"I'm guessing this is it?" Eddy asked quietly.

"Yes." Edd replied, going and sitting on the seat.

Ed followed him and jumped on Edd's lap.

"Ow!" Edd exclaimed, looking up at Ed's grinning face.

"Tell me a story, Double D..." He insisted.

The other two grinned. "Such as the story of the rat mutants who crawl out of mouse holes and chew into your head?" Eddy asked wickedly.

Ed's eyes widened. "I don't want my head to be chewed into! Then they'll eat my brain!"

"You don't have anything to worry about there, Lumpy..." Eddy muttered, and Edd glared at him.

"That was very impolite, Eddy..." He lectured.

Ed shrugged. "Where did the rat mutants come from, Eddy?"

"Remember where the lizard-man came from?" Ed nodded, and Eddy continued. "Well, kids and insects aren't the only things the mad scientist experimented on, he also subjected normal rodents to nuclear radiation, causing mutations in their DNA..."

"Whoa..." Ed said softly, and then glanced down at Edd. "What?"

Edd was shaking slightly. "In other words, they were lab rats? Bred for experiments on useless info...?"

Eddy looked puzzled. "What are you talking about, Double D? It's just a stupid story."

"Mad scientist... mutations... lab rats..." Edd said slowly, ignoring Eddy. "Not the most appropriate story you could have come up with..."

"Oh, man... Don't be going nuts on us, Double D... We still need to deal with the Kankers..." Eddy reminded him.

"True..." Edd said, then looked up at Ed. "Can you get off my lap now? We need to look for some info..."

"Yep!" Ed exclaimed, hopping off Edd.

"Now then, what would they store such things under...?" He turned to the computer and turned it on.

"Edward?" Eddy suggested.

"Gravy?" Ed asked.

"No... Edward would be for personal files, and gravy... wouldn't be in there. Maybe in the kitchen, if we've got, I don't know, a secret recipe." Edd replied.

"Wolf?" Eddy continued.

"Too obvious, any experienced hacker who believed in the paranormal would have found such info years ago..." Edd decided.

"Experiment A?" Ed said.

Edd looked thoughtful and turned around. "Something like that would be in the filing cabinet..."

"Okay then..." Ed said, going to the file cabinet and looking through it.

Eddy walked over to the papers. "Are these your dad's papers? The ones you were supposed to organize?"

Edd looked nervous and spun around to the screen again. "Um, yes."

"Naughty boy, Double D. You're supposed to do your chores, not hide the evidence in a secret room of your house." Ed lectured.

"Hey, here's a file labeled 'Specimen A'." Eddy said, looking it over.

"That might be useful..." Edd murmured, typing something very rapidly on the computer.

"Why's a file only 5 years old experiment B?" Ed asked.

"Well... Mother and Father have only started getting well known for six years, and the earlier files are from that time..." Edd said in explanation, and then went into deep thought.

Ed took another file and looked through it. "Did anything unusual happen six years ago?" He asked.

Edd didn't answer, and Eddy looked at him quickly. "Double D?"

Edd was staring at nothing in particular, his mind lingering on the Halloween of 6 years before.

Dramatic Flash back...

It was dark out, hard to see even with the street lights everywhere. However, little shapes wearing bed sheets, pumpkins, and witch hats were running from house to house.

A little boy came out of the closest house, holding a small plastic pumpkin. He turned around to talk to a figure behind him, then started out across the lawn.

"Mother's actually letting me go alone! I can't believe it, I'm finally old enough to trick-or-treat alone!" He chortled in his joy.

He was wearing an astronaut outfit, complete with a helmet. He took it off and gasped.

"It's too hot with that on..." He complained, rubbing his head. The boy had short purple hair, not even down to his ears. He looked up at the sky and grinned, revealing a gap-less smile at the front of his mouth. Other than that, though, he was a mini Double D.

"Edward! Be careful, and stay in the neighborhood!" A women's voice exclaimed from the house behind him.

"Okay..." He replied, and then walked across the lawn to his neighbor's house. "Trick or treat!" He exclaimed as the door opened.

A good number of houses later, he had made an elliptical loop in the street.

"Wow, it's almost full! This is so much candy, it'll last me at least a month!" Edward said happily as he walked home.

An eerie silence filled the area, and he looked around warily. No one was in sight, simply a darkened house to his left and an old, broken fence to his right.

He shrugged and continued on, singing softly to himself.

A shadow crawled out of the woods and through the fence, where it stopped and looked around. It noticed Edward and tilted its head, then slowly followed him on all fours...

Flash forward...

"Double D!" Eddy exclaimed, shaking Edd's shoulders.

"Hu-huh?" He murmured, coming to reality again.

"What was that? You were completely spaced out for a minute..." Eddy said.

Edd avoided Eddy's eyes, looking down to the right. "Something strange did happen during that time... It may actually be the cause of our current situation..."

"Like what?" Ed asked.

"It's not really something I choose to discuss much... I had all but forgotten about it until now... You see, six years ago, when I was just seven--"

"SEVEN? But you're twelve!" Eddy exclaimed, then looked startled. "You are twelve, right?"

Edd nodded, and Eddy looked relieved. "My birthday happens to fall between now and Halloween, I'll turn 13 then..."

"You're over six months older than me! It's not fair..." Eddy complained.

"I think I'm older than Double D!" Ed exclaimed. "I'm already, um..." He began counting his fingers, then toes, then ears, and stopped, puzzled.

"I don't know... 13?"

"Why am I always littler and behind everyone?" Eddy exclaimed. "Ed, the next thing we know, Sockhead here'll have a---"

"Hey, you home?" A girl's voice called from outside.

Eddy froze and very slowly turned to Edd. "Y-y-y-y-you have a girlfriend?" He screamed.

Edd turned bright red. "N-no, not a girlfriend..." He walked into the actual room and to the window, and then leaned out. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Okay, then, can I come in? I need to talk to you..." Marie asked.

Edd nodded. "Sure thing, just come up to my parents' room."

Ed and Eddy stared in absolute shock. "MARIE KANKER?" Eddy screamed as Ed shouted, "KANKER SISTER?"

Edd smiled ruefully. "Marie helped me out last night..." He explained.

"Ah. She helped you out. No wonder, that explains everything..." Eddy said sarcastically.

She walked in. "Hey."

"Hi..." Edd replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He blushed slightly and turned towards Eddy. "Anyway, where was I...?"

"Edd's secret, Halloween, age 7, second floor, everyone out." Ed said.

The other three stared at him.

"Huh...?" Edd asked.

"Um..." Marie said, then paused. "What did I miss?" She finally asked.

"Double D's parents seemed to have experimented on him in the past. We're trying to see if that's why he's a-- oh!" Eddy exclaimed, covering his mouth.

"... A werewolf?" Marie asked, grinning.

"Uh..." Eddy said nervously, looking at Edd. "Um, Double D? What's going on?"

Edd and Marie glanced at each other and started giggling.

"Marie is one too..." Edd managed to explain before he began laughing.

Ed stared.

He continued staring.

He stared some more.

And a little more.

"Then she was the source of the howling before...?" He asked.

"Yep." Marie answered, and then looked at Edd. "Did you get that?"

Edd nodded. "Yes, though I'm still not entirely sure how..."

"Huh?" Eddy said vaguely, looking confused.

"Never mind... So, where are you going to be staying? Since you don't plan to spend the next few nights with your sisters..." Edd asked Marie.

She looked nervous. "That wouldn't be the best thing for me to do, so I was kinda hoping I could stay with you..."

Eddy's eyes bulged open wider than ever. "A girl sleeping over at a guy's house? Double D!"

Edd fiddled with his hair nervously. "Eddy's right, of course... Besides, I'm not going to be sleeping here either, I'd rather avoid my parents for the next few days..."

"...'Specimen A shows signs of amnesia and does not appear to retain any memory of the recent events.' What's that mean, Double D?" Ed asked, reading from a paper in the file.

"Let me see that." Edd said, taking it and scanning down it. "This..."

Eddy and Marie came over to see, but Edd walked to the computer, still reading it.

"Hey!" Eddy exclaimed.

Edd ignored him and put the file on top of the monitor. He pressed a key and the screensaver went down, then moved the cursor over Internet Explorer.

"What are you looking for...?" Eddy asked.

Edd still did not answer. He typed something quickly in the website box and loaded the site. A familiar flag was on the screen.

"The US flag? What are you looking--WHOA!" Eddy exclaimed, standing next to Edd and staring at the screen. He stared in shock at the kid beside him, who was still typing various things in. The pages shifted repeatedly, until they got to things Eddy was fairly sure he shouldn't be seeing. "Double D, is this the government mainframe? You hacked into the..."

"Yes, it's not that difficult if you put your mind to it... Beside, this is the only way I can verify this..." Edd commented, still not looking up. "Here we go..."

Eddy stared at Edd. "You know, sometimes you surprise even more than Ed here..."

Edd didn't answer and backed up slightly for the others to see.

The other three crowded around the computer, staring at the screen.

"So, why are we looking on the computer instead of through those files anyway?" Eddy asked.

Edd turned towards Eddy and smiled dryly. "Do you really want to sort though all of those papers?" He asked.

Eddy made a face. "Not really..." He turned back to the monitor.

"Exactly." Edd replied. He noticed something on the screen. "What the...?"

He typed something rapidly and another screen came up. This one had a long list of names, some with check marks next to them, others with Xs.

"Chro-chronolog-chro--" Ed tried to sound out, then stopped and scratched his head in bemusement.

"Chronological order of the discoveries of lycothropically infected specimens.." Edd said quietly. "I'm at the top of the list..." He sighed and bowed his head.

The other three watched him nervously.

"Then again... I knew this was the case anyway..." He murmured to himself. He stared at the screen for a moment, clicking to glance down the list. He blinked suddenly, but before the others could see what at he'd scrolled back to the top of the pages.

"Well, then..." He looked up at them and smiled wryly. "Eddy, I need your opinion... Who do you think is more important to pay attention to? Authority or peers?"

Eddy blinked. "Um... huh?"

"Parents, teachers, those types of people, or friends..." Edd explained.

"Honestly?" Eddy asked, and Edd nodded. "Friends. Who cares what adults say, they always lie to you, and keep important stuff and interesting things from you, not to mention order you around..."

Edd grinned. "Suggesting that friends never tell each other what to do?"

Eddy groaned and hit his forehead. "Double D... You know what I meant..."

Edd smiled and nodded. "And I'd have to say I now agree with you. My entire life, I blindly accepted everything my parents told me without question, and yet they were the ones to question every thing, to learn, to ask why."

"Why?" Ed asked, and the other three looked over at him.

"Ed, I don't think that saying why is going to help you." Eddy commented.

"Besides, isn't it about finding stuff out... not just saying the word?" Marie asked Edd.

Edd nodded his head slowly. "Correct. And if we're going to find out what's going on now, we're going to need to stick together. Okay?" He demanded.

"Yep!" Ed exclaimed.

"Sure thing." Eddy said.

Marie smiled. "Yeah, if I'm a part of this, anyway..."

Ed and Eddy looked at her for a minute.

"Would you mind keeping Kevin and Sarah from killing us in the future?" Eddy asked. "And helping with scams?"

"Sure thing." She replied.

"Okay, then." Eddy said, then grinned and slapped her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the Eds!"

"But... She can't be an Ed, she's a girl!" Ed realized.

Edd chuckled while Marie looked embarrassed and Eddy groaned. "We kinda noticed that Ed, Sockhead here more than anyone..." He said, elbowing Edd in the stomach.

"Ow! What did you mean by that?" Edd said, rubbing his stomach.

"Heh heh..." Eddy said evilly, grinning at him.

"Are you trying to imply that I--" Edd began.

"Just statin' the obvious, Double D..." Eddy said, and then ducked behind Ed.

"Any way... What're we going to tell the other kids? I don't think they'll like me being all that much..." Marie asked.

"We'll just figure that out then... But for now, let's leave here, there's no reason to be staying in here." Edd decided.

Ed ran out, Marie walking behind him. Eddy stayed a moment.

"You okay?" He asked Edd.

Edd gave him a look. "Well, I'm in a position where I and a girl who has a crush on me are werewolves. Her sisters are terrorizing the neighborhood because they suddenly have the ability to tell anyone but me what to do. Somehow, when I told those same people to stop doing whatever the girls made them do they go back to normal. My best friends have minor amnesia. My parents have been keeping secrets from me pertaining to great scientific discoveries and possibly why I have purple hair. The only people who are currently aware of what's going on are kids, and the people I have to depend on the most right now are a strong but dim-witted boy, a Kanker sister who has a huge crush on me, and a money-hungry fiend who often uses me to achieve his ends. Sure, I'm okay Eddy. Everything's going pretty normal for me, how about you?"

Eddy simply stared at him through this entire speech. He blinked once or twice and remained silent for a moment. He cocked his head, looked at Edd for another minute, then smiled. "Well." He commented. "...Money-hungry fiend...?" He asked slyly.

"Uh, well..." Edd said nervously.

"Never mind... It's not a big deal... But, that definitely surprised me. Ya know, I think this whole thing's pretty good for you, actually." Eddy commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Edd demanded quickly.

"Lemme put it this way... Earlier this summer, you were just this smart tightwad who did whatever Mommy and Daddy told you. You wouldn't think of breaking the rules and you felt bad about scamming kids. A total waste of brains. But now look at you. Keeping things from your parents, hacking into computers, lying to the others, and now a sarcastic attitude to go with it." Eddy slapped Edd on the shoulder. "You're getting to be alright, Sockhead..."

Edd rubbed his neck nervously and grinned. "Well, when you put it that way... There have been significant changes in my mental view, haven't there?"

"Yep. Now, come on, your girlfriend's waiting..." Eddy drawled out, then ducked when Edd tried to hit him.

"Eddy! It's not like that!" Edd exclaimed, then chased him down the stairs.

The computer in the room they left behind remained on, although the safe slowly closed and hid itself again...

Ed flung open the door of the fridge, literally.

Marie stared at him. "Um..."

"Double D? You need a better fridge." Ed declared, examining the door. He shrugged and placed it on the table behind him.

"How did you...?" Marie started, then paused, choosing her words.

"Soda!" Ed exclaimed, pulling a can out of the fridge. "Uh... how do you open this...?" He asked Marie.

"Here..." She said, opening it and giving it back to him. She then stared and watched incredulously as Ed swallowed the contents in one gulp, then proceeded to put the can in his mouth. He then chewed and swallowed.

She blinked. "Well, now I know why a sink was in your stomach..."

"That one was Jimmy's." Ed proclaimed.

"O--kay then..." Marie said slowly. "Sure thing..."

"Hey, soda? I didn't know your parents let you have that, Double D." Eddy said as he came down the stairs and into the kitchen. He then walked next to Ed and reached in and grabbed a can.

"Huh? They don't, I get hyper, and--- DROP IT! DROP THOSE THIS INSTANT!" Edd yelled frantically, grabbing the can from Eddy's grasp.

"Hey! What's the big deal?" Eddy asked irritably.

"Why did you take Eddy's soda, Double D?" Ed asked, gulping down another one and putting the can in his mouth.

"WAIT! Ed, SPIT THAT JUNK OUT!" Edd exclaimed jumping between them and the fridge. "Don't you dare grab another one!"

"What is your problem?" Eddy asked, trying to reach around Edd.

Edd gasped. "That's not soda!"

Eddy looked startled. "Then what is it?"

"Beer!" Edd replied. He was shoving the can he'd confiscated from Eddy back into the fridge, and turned to glare at them.

The other three looked at each other rapidly.

"Beer?" Eddy asked, truly shocked. "You have beer?"

Edd shook his head rapidly. "Of course not! It's my parents', and it's highly alcoholic... They'll have a sip or to when they're stressed to calm down..."

"Uh, oh..." Marie said, looking at Ed. "Ed drank two whole cans..."

"Oh dear..." Edd said softly, backing away slowly.

"Let's hide behind here if he goes nuts on us." Eddy recommended, holding up the fridge's door.

Edd noticed that and looked shocked. "Is that the door to the refrigerator?" He realized what had happened. "Ed!"

"Hic!" Ed suddenly hiccupped. "I don't feel good..."

"I'd imagine not." Edd commented.

"Do you mean Ed's drunk?" Eddy asked, and Edd shook his head.

"Luckily, no. He didn't have that much, thank god... But it will have an effect on Ed's mind..." Edd said.

Eddy raised an eyebrow. "You sure it'll be noticeable? This is Ed we're talking about, after all..."

Kevin's voice came from outside. "Hey, dorks! Get out here!" He yelled.

"Huh? Kevin?" Edd asked, looking out the window.

"What's he doing here?" Eddy wondered.

Marie shrugged and Ed hiccupped.

"Eds! Get out here already, I need to talk to you!" Kevin continued.

"He needs to talk with us..." Eddy purred, grinning. "Okay, let's head out."

The four walked out, Eddy in front, Edd next to him. Ed looked disoriented and walked over to the side and sat down, rubbing at his head, while Marie snuck behind Edd.

"Hello, Kevin. What can we do for you?" Eddy asked cheerfully.

"We're going after the Kankers." Kevin said, frowning and crossing his arms. "They already came again, and this time they turned Jimmy's hair pink, gave Nazz a wart, and made us tell them where you guys are."

Edd heard Marie gasp, and he glanced back at her. She looked at him nervously.

"What if something happens to these guys?" She whispered.

"It won't. I'll make sure of it..." Edd replied, then turned his attention back to the conversation before him.

"Really? Pink hair? I'll have to see that... But, is that a good idea?" Eddy asked, grinning the whole time. "After all, they might make you sing again, and I'm sure none of us want to go through that again..." He continued, then looked at Edd.

Edd just looked seriously back at him, and Eddy's smile drooped slightly.

"That's why everyone is going to go, Dorky. We don't want to risk that happening again, so we're going to rely on power in numbers." Kevin replied darkly.

Edd came out of thought and frowned at Kevin. "What good will being in a group do? As I've noticed in the past, everyone will simply freeze if Lee or May show their faces, and they'll do whatever they want. After all, what did the others do to help you and Jimmy?"

"What did you say?" Kevin demanded.

Eddy watched the two nervously. /Double D, this isn't the time to fight with Kevin../ He thought.

"Kevin, everyone going into angry mob form and storming the trailer park won't accomplish anything!" Edd exclaimed.

"How the heck do you know? We can take them on!" Kevin yelled.

Edd looked furious, his hands rolling into fists. "Just how dense can you be! They won't listen to reason, if that's what you're counting on! What is your plan? To kidnap them? Knock them out? What?"

"That's what you're gonna figure out! You're supposed to be a child genius, aren't you? Show it!" Kevin replied hotly.

Edd straightened and the two glared at each other for a minute. Eddy and Marie looked between the two, shocked at the resemblance. If any two kids in the cul-de-sac could look like each other, it was probably Edd and Kevin.

"Well, then... A genius? Smart, certainly. Smarter than any of you will ever be, at the rate you're going." Edd finally said.

Kevin looked flabbergasted. "W-what? Are you calling me an idiot?"

"I'm calling you stupid, because you are! Kevin, think about what we're up against here! We don't know what's going on, except that suddenly, May and Lee have the ability to make people do whatever they say! Do you understand the implications of that? Suppose they accidentally told someone to drop dead? Oops, there's a dead body! But I don't imagine that ever occurred to you, the biggest worry on your mind was where the Eds were, and the chance that you might get stuck singing that song again!" Edd screamed.

All four kids stared at Edd as he completely lost his temper and screamed all of this. Ed walked over and simply stood there. No one spoke for several minutes as Edd calmed down.

"Um..." Eddy finally said.

Edd sighed and looked down, his eyes closed and in deep thought.

"Double D?" Ed asked, looking concerned.

Edd opened his eyes slowly and looked up. He started to speak, in a much calmer tone than before. "Look, we don't know enough of what's going on to simply charge in there..."

"Then, we'll need to find out what's going on..." Kevin murmured.

"Hic!" Ed exclaimed.

Marie and Eddy glanced over at him.

"You okay, Monobrow?" Eddy asked.

"No..." Ed complained.

Edd nodded. "Yes, and to find out what's going on, we'll have to be smart about it, not the disorganized bunch we usually are... We need a plan..."

"Then what do you think we should do, hmm?" Kevin asked.

"We'll have to spy on them, tonight, and try to figure out how they're doing all of this. It never affected me, and when I told you guys to stop, you stopped. There has to be some reason for that..." Edd murmured.

"How about we split into small groups, of two or three? That way they might not see a large group together and realize what we're doing..." Eddy suggested.

Kevin frowned. "Well, that'd take care of you guys, wouldn't it?"

Edd shook his head. "No, it doesn't..."

Marie stepped next to Edd. "I'd need someone to pair with..." She reminded him. "And I don't think any of them would want to--"

Kevin was staring. "One of the Kanker sisters? You guys have been with them the whole time, haven't you?

"What?" Eddy demanded, but Edd pushed him to the side.

"No, we have not. Marie is not with her sisters, they've been treating her as badly as you, if not worse." Edd explained.

Kevin regarded her darkly. "It's hard for me to see the Kanker sisters breaking up, even harder than seeing you three hate each other..." He told Edd.

"Marie is with us, cause she joined the Eds..." Ed proclaimed suddenly.

"Oh really?" Kevin asked, looking at Edd again. Then you three trust her?"

Edd nodded. "She helped me get away from May and Lee last night..."

"Huh? These two told us that you were with your parents! Did they lie to us?" Kevin yelled.

Edd winced and cleared his ear, then continued in a calm tone. "I told you already, Lee and May erased their memory somehow, they don't remember last night, like they were brainwashed..."

"Uh huh... Will you tell me what actually happened, then?" Kevin finally asked.

"Eventually..." Edd replied, then glanced at Edd and Marie. "Are we going then? We'll need to prepare..."

Eddy nodded. "Yep..." He turned towards Ed, who was now sitting on the ground and looking around him vaguely. "Come on, Lumpy..."

"But I'm stuck, Eddy..." Ed complained.

"You have to be kidding me..." Eddy muttered as he went over to pull Ed up.

Kevin watched this suspiciously, then turned to Edd and Marie. "What's wrong with Ed?"

Edd rolled his eyes. "You don't want to know... Trust me..." He tapped Marie on the shoulder. "So, you're coming?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I need to get revenge on those brats."

"Alright, Ed, let's go already..." Eddy said, dragging Ed over. "I think Ed's gonna need to be locked up, or he'll just be a menace..."

"A menace? Get it off, Edd!" Ed yelled, swiping at Eddy's hand.

"OW! Ed, you dolt, that was me!" Eddy exclaimed, sucking his hand.

Ed pouted at him. "But I don't want the menace to get me, Eddy..."

Edd shook his head wearily and tapped Ed on the head. "Don't worry, Ed, it's gone..."

"It is? I'm safe!" Ed exclaimed, then jumped to his feet. "To my house!" He yelled, then set off up the street.

The other four watched him run. "Never let Ed around illegal beverages, Kevin, never..." Edd muttered.

Kevin blinked. "Illegal beverages?"

"Beer." Marie remarked.

Now Kevin's eyes widened. "You mean Ed drank beer?" He exclaimed.

Eddy smirked. "Yeah, the idiot thought it was soda and had two cans before Double D realized what it was... He screamed at us and told us what it was, kinda funny, actually..."

"What? Funny?" Edd stammered, then glared at Eddy.

/Oh, here we go…/ Eddy thought.

"There is nothing funny about alcohol consumption, Eddy! Not only is it illegal for people of our age to drink that, but too much of it inhibits your ability to think, and yes, it will affect Ed too... Honestly, if I had known this would happen, I would have--"

"Ow!" Ed exclaimed from up the road.

Marie made a face. "What'd'ya think he did this time?"

"Let's go see..." Eddy said, then started running.

Marie beckoned to Edd. "Come on..."

Edd scratched the back of his hat. "Well, then..." He turned towards Kevin. "I suppose we'll see you later, after we've resolved all of this... Good bye.." With that, he ran after Eddy and Marie.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edd stood next to Eddy and Marie and leaned over, gasping for air. "What's he doing?" He wheezed.

"You have to see it for yourself..." Marie simply said, and Edd looked up.

There, Ed was running along the sidewalk, laughing like mad.

"Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, Ooof!" He suddenly said, slamming into a telephone pole. He slid back several feet and got slowly to his feet.

"My goodness! Ed, are you all right?" Edd exclaimed, and Eddy covered his mouth.

"He's not done yet..." Eddy said.

Ed grinned and started running again, laughing crazily again.

He hit the pole.

"Ed...?" Edd asked, looking deeply concerned. He looked at the other two. "How long has he been doing this?"

"Since we got here..." Marie said faintly.

Edd blinked, then stared over at Ed again.

"That long?" Edd asked.

Ed ran into the pole again.

"That long..." Eddy replied.

Ed slowly got up and began running again.

"I'm locking that drawer in the future..." Edd commented.

Ed hit the pole.

"Good idea." Eddy said.

Ed slowly started getting to his feet.

"Or better yet, I'll recommend that Mother and Father get a locked cooler to keep them in..." Edd continued.

Ed began running.

"So will I..." Marie decided.

"You have beer in your house?" Eddy said.

She shrugged. "Never looked."

Edd nodded. "Good thing..."

Ed got up as quickly as any of the other times, and ran to hit the pole again. He slid across the grass the same distance and sat there a minute, then got up again, laughing.

"Ya know... it might not be the alcohol..." Eddy commented.

"Oh?" Marie asked, looking at him. "Is Ed really that stupid?"

"Yeah. He is... After all, he's gone and repeatedly hit the pole before..." Eddy reminded them. "If Double D and I hadn't pulled him behind it, he might have kept doing that all day..."

"Good point, I had forgotten all about that..." Edd said thoughtfully.

Ed ran to hit it again.

"Anyway..." Marie slowly said.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired of this... It's about as boring as watching Sockhead here run around in search of sticky notes..." Eddy said.

"Hmmm…? Sticky notes?" She asked slowly, looking over at him.

Edd turned red, putting a hand up and shaking his head. "Never mind... Let's go already..."

"Come on, Ed!" Eddy yelled.

Ed stopped a foot away from the pole. "Huh?"

"Let's go, Lumpy. Follow me." Eddy explained, then turned to Edd. "Make any secret agent stuff lately? Fix the jetpack? Anything?"

Edd grinned. "Indeed, I did! If you three will follow me, we can get ready for spying on the Kankers!" He noticed Marie and turned red. "Uh, well, you know what I meant, anyway..."

She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go, it's okay..."

He smiled slightly back and turned away awkwardly, then started walking towards his house.

Marie followed him, while Ed and Eddy watched them.

"I think Double D really has the hots for Marie, Ed..." Eddy commented.

"He's falling in love with her because she's showing her more feminine and sensitive side, instead of the rough and disgusting side she showed as a Kanker sister..." Ed wisely explained.

"Tell me about it... Well, that leaves less competition between me and Nazz!" He finally exclaimed, then ran off after Edd and Marie.

"Follow the leader!" Ed spouted, then ran after the others.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's... a shed." Marie commented, looking around the shed they were standing in. "Where's the stuff?"

"In here..." Edd said as he walked to the calculator hanging on the wall. He typed several things in, and the wall opened up.

"Whoa! How many other of these secret rooms do you have?" Marie asked.

"None--" Eddy started.

"A few others, but they're my personal areas..." Edd replied. He looked apologetically at Ed and Eddy. "That's why you've never seen them..."

Ed looked thoughtful. "Do they have anything to do with that voice Eddy heard when he went in your room without you?"

"Yeah... That's my security system." Edd replied, then walked into the secret room. "Because we've been constantly scamming, I haven't had time to fix most of this stuff..."

"So? I still want to see it!" Marie said, walking in behind him. She stopped and stared around in shock. The walls were covered in all types of things, the jetpack, several fake jawbreakers, the mop, the bucket, a hook shot...

"Wow, no time to fix them?" Eddy asked sarcastically, grabbing the jetpack. "This working?"

Edd shook his head. "Unfortunately, whatever you two did to it permanently ruined it... I'll need to find parts and make another one..."

Ed pouted. "But I wanted to fly like a birdie..." He complained.

Edd shook his head. "Flying's out of the question, I'm afraid... Besides, how would that help us spy on Lee and May? We'd be kinda obvious..."

"Okay, then... Um, spying on the Kankers, what would we need...?" Eddy asked himself quietly.

Edd started looking through a rack of clothes. "I wonder..."

"Hmm?" Marie asked, walking next to him. "What?"

"Ah ha!" He exclaimed, pulling out a fully black cloak. "This may look like an ordinary cloak, but when you wear it for a short period of time, it heats up..." He wrapped it around himself, "The threads will start transferring the light from one side of it to the other..."

Marie scratched her head. "So?"

He smiled and put the hood up, covering all of his skin from sight. "If you saw the light on the other side, it look as though light was going through it, and you wouldn't see it, you'd see whatever was behind it..."

Her eyes widened. "Do you mean that it's a--"

"Invisibility cloak..." He commented, slowly started becoming see- through.

"All right, then..." Eddy finally said, coming out of his deep pondering. "Double D, do you happen to have a... Um... Where's Double D?" Eddy asked.

The cloak had vanished.

Eddy looked around. "Hey, where'd he-- WHOA!" Eddy yelled, suddenly suspended in the air. "What the heck's going on?"

Edd's giggling came form the air below Eddy. "So you guys really can't see me?"

Ed blinked. "Double D jumped out of his body!" He exclaimed.

Edd's head suddenly appeared. "No, I did not..."

"AH! DOUBLE D IS A FLOATING, TALKING HEAD!" He yelled, and ran through the wall behind him.

"U-u-u-u-u-u-u-uh... D-d-d-double D...?" Eddy stammered. "C-could you l-let me d-down please?"

Edd looked startled. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He exclaimed.

Eddy was put back on his feet. He straightened rapidly and stared. "How did you do that, Double D?"

Edd grinned and suddenly his entire body appeared, the black cloak slowly turning visible in his hand. "For all practical uses, an invisibility cloak that I designed." He said, holding it out to Eddy. "I've got five of them in all different sizes..."

Marie looked at him, confused. "Why five?"

"Three for us, and two for Eddy and I when we grow taller... I ran out of material for Ed's larger one..." He explained.

"Cool! With these, the Kankers won't even see us coming!" Eddy yelled.

"Well, of course not, Eddy... That's the whole point of being invisible, no one can see you..." Edd commented.

Eddy glared at him. "I knew that, don't act so condescendingly..."

Edd blinked. "How is it that you never seem to be with your tutor, but you always suddenly say a word not previously in your vocabulary?"

Eddy shook his head. "None of your business..." He ran over to the clothes. "Where's mine?"

"Um... It's next to the pink rabbit costume..." Edd said, looking away in embarrassment.

Eddy raised one of his eyebrows and held out the pink suit. "What on earth is this thing for?"

Edd looked up, his face bright red. "Never mind..."

"Uh huh, sure thing..." Edd said, tossing it to the side. "Where the heck... Ah hah! This one's mine, right?"

Edd looked at it and nodded. "That's it."

"Sweet! I can be invisible and sneak around... Oh, man! Double D, why didn't you tell me about this sooner? Do you know how many times we could have snuck off with our money instead of getting caught? Why do I have to be leaving in three days? It's not fair!"

"Leaving?" Marie asked, looking at him curiously. "Why are you leaving, anyway?"

"Still don't know, my parents won't tell me. When I asked my dad, he just looked at mom and said 'God, not only is he a rotten, spoiled kid, but he's an idiot too...' The jerk..." Eddy complained, and kicked at the floor.

Edd looked shocked. "Your own father said that about you?"

"Yeah..." Eddy said, then wrapped the cloak around him. "Hey, it isn't working!"

"It takes a minute... Now, what else do you two think we'll need?" Edd asked, then looked around. "Oh dear..."

"What?" Marie said, as Eddy looked down at himself.

"Ed's missing again..." Edd said, and looked frustrated.

"Oh, I think it's working!" Eddy exclaimed, his body slowly vanishing.

"Put the hood on and you'll be entirely invisible..." Edd commented.

Eddy's hood covered his head, and he _went_ entirely invisible. "Ha! Now you can't find me!" His voice yelled.

"Actually, Eddy, I can. Right now, both your body and the cloak are producing heat. Heat-seeking missiles would go after you, and night vision goggles can see you..." Edd informed him, pulling out the red goggles. He put them on and looked to the right. "You're standing on the barrel."

Eddy's faint shape stared at him. "So, if we wear the cloak and the goggles, the only people who can see us will be us?"

"Exactly." Edd replied, then looked around the room. "Will we need anything else? After all, I believe the other kids will need something, and I don't have enough cloaks for everyone."

"Oh, how about this? Or this?" Eddy asked, various items floating in the air.

"Actually, the second would be useful, let's see what else I can make before tonight..." Edd said, then went to work.

Eddy grinned and pulled off the cloak, watching in interest as it slowly reappeared in his hands. "Too cool…"

"Well, that seems to be everything... But where on earth is Ed?" Edd asked, turning the shed's light off. The room went dark, as the sun was setting outside.

"We have a problem, guys..." Ed's voice suddenly said.

"Ah!" Edd yelled.

Marie fell over. "Hey!"

"Don't do that, Ed!" Eddy exclaimed, looking irritated. "And where the heck have you been all day?"

"That isn't the matter at hand, Eddy. We have a big problem." Ed said slowly.

Edd blinked. "Well, you certainly sound serious enough, what is the problem?"

"Well, um... Yesterday, or last night, anyway, you two changed, right?" Ed started.

"Yeah... It was the full moon..." Edd replied.

Ed pulled the hood down and looked awkward. "Well, I think you're gonna change tonight, 'cause the moon is full again..."

"WHAT?" Edd and Marie exclaimed.

"How is it...?" Eddy said faintly.

Edd shook his head rapidly to clear it. "That isn't possible, Ed. If last night was the full moon, tonight couldn't because the moon revolves around the Earth, and for it to be the full moon again, the moon would have stopped, and that's not possible, because an object in motion stays in motion, and there is nothing that could simply stop the moon from moving, but still keep it from being sucked into the Earth's atmosphere and destroying the planet!"

Eddy blinked twice, and everyone just stared at Edd.

"Um..." Marie said slowly.

"Did you two understand any of that?" Eddy asked.

"No..." Ed replied.

Edd glared at them. "Look, I'll prove it to you, the moon couldn't possibly be full again..." He said, walking to the door and looked towards the horizon. There, the moon was slowly rising, the full moon.

"Well...?" Marie asked.

"N-no..." Edd exclaimed, lurching away, then out of the moon's light. There he collapsed into a sitting position and stared at the others. "This isn't possible..."

"You mean it's really full?" Eddy asked, looking out.

"Some how, the laws of gravity, and physics, and motion, they're all being defied... How is this possible?" Edd whispered.

Ed shook his head. "No, no, don't you guys know _anything_? It's a full moon three times—the day before, the day of, and the day after. That's how there's a chance to cure it before the next full moon..."

Edd looked over, frowning. "I... hadn't realized that. So, then, tonight as well...?"

"Weird..." Eddy said, then shrugged and looked at Edd, then Marie. "So how are you two going to go without changing? If you don't, then Kevin will accuse you of sneaking to their trailer, again, and being in league with them..."

Edd simply stared. "Eddy, I hadn't even thought of that, how on Earth can I... Unless..." He smiled and held up the cloak. "Maybe wearing this will work..."

"But won't you become invisible?" Ed asked.

Edd nodded. "Yes, but I'm sure I can find some way of getting, hiding and taking the cloak off, and taking part in the conversation without changing."

"If you say so..." Eddy said, not believing him. He shrugged. "Any way, have we got everything?"

Edd nodded. "I believe everyone will be in the lane..."

"Okay, then, you two put on those cloaks, and we'll set off!" Eddy said.

Edd and Marie nodded at each other, putting on the goggles, then the cloaks.

"I'll make sure this works..." Edd said, walking out into the moonlight.

He stood there a minute, and then looked at his hand. "It works, Marie."

"All right, then..." She said, picking up some of the stuff. Edd turned invisible to Ed and Eddy's eyes.

"Should we wear the goggles too?" Eddy asked the air around him.

"Yeah, it'd work out better if you could see us... They're right in there..." Edd said, pointing an invisible finger out.

"Where?" Ed asked, looking around hopelessly.

"Ugh..." Edd complained, then walked in and grabbed them. "Here..." The two pairs floated over towards the visible Eds.

Ed and Eddy grabbed them and put them on.

"I'm a Cyclops again!" Ed yelled, running around in circles.

"I hate the way everything looks with these on..." Eddy complained to Edd.

Edd shrugged. "That's the only way I can get them to work, sorry..."

"Oh well... Any way, we should get going..." Eddy said.

"Right, let's go." Marie said, then they all set out for the path.

---------------

All of the kids were gathered in the alley, talking frantically about the Kankers. Jimmy was wearing an odd hat in order to cover his hair, and Nazz had another paper bag over her face.

"Are you sure they're going to show up, buddy?" Jonny asked.

"..." Plank replied, and the other kids looked at him.

"How are you so sure? Or does it have something to do with that secret talk you had with Double D earlier?" Jonny demanded.

"..." Plank said, causing Jonny's frown soften.

"I know you're sorry, but you didn't have to butt me out of it..." Jonny complained.

Kevin shook his head. "If it weren't for what Double D did earlier, I'd just ignore Jonny... But now I'm wondering if Plank is real..."

"I know what you mean, Kevin. Double D wouldn't have been pretending, and he did faint, after all..." Nazz replied through the paper bag.

"Speaking of Double D, where are those guys? And why on Earth is Marie hanging out with them?" Sarah asked.

Edd leaned against the fence, standing in shadow. "We're here..."

"AH!" Most of the kids screamed, jumping back or falling down.

"He just appeared, like a ghost!" Jimmy cried, grasping Sarah's leg. "Don't let him get me!"

Sarah glared at Edd. "Now you went and scared Jimmy, you jerk!"

Edd looked startled. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry, Jimmy..." He said apologetically.

Ed and Eddy jumped over the fence, without the goggles on. Eddy held out the bag of stuff Edd had made that day.

"What's that stuff?" Nazz asked, walking over.

"Just some things I thought would come in useful..." Edd said, then looked to his right, where the fence opened and Marie came out.

Several of the kids backed up, wondering what she would do.

"There you are, what took you so long?" Edd asked, taking the cloak from her.

"The goggles wouldn't unfasten..." She replied, handing them over.

"Wouldn't unfasten? That's not right... They should have fit perfectly..." Edd said, examining them all over. "How strange..."

Eddy shook his head and turned to Nazz. "All right, if we're all done watching the lovebirds, it's time for business."

Edd froze and spun around. "Eddy!" He exclaimed, his face turning red.

Eddy chuckled and Ed grinned. "They've been like this all day..." Ed seriously explained to Nazz. "Eddy says they're in love..."

"Hello..." Rolf said, and Kevin snickered.

"No wonder you two wanted to pair up..." He said slyly. "How long have you had it for Marie, Double D?"

Edd turned even redder, and then Marie started blushing also. "I-I haven't a clue what you're talking about, Kevin..." Edd stammered.

"Yeah, right..." Sarah commented, then pulled Jimmy over with her to Ed and Eddy. "What did you guys bring?"

"All kinds of things, and no, we won't charge you for them..." Eddy said quickly when she glared suspiciously at him. "The basic things: night vision goggles, walkie-talkies... That kind of thing..."

"Really? Cool!" Jonny exclaimed, running over to the bag. Everyone walked over and looked through it.

"Neat-o, look through this, Plank!" Jonny exclaimed, holding the goggles to Plank's eyes. He spun him around, letting him see the kids, when Jonny noticed Edd staring at them.

Kevin elbowed Nazz and Rolf and they silently watched Edd.

Edd looked at Jonny, then down at Plank. His eyes closed abruptly and he turned away, leaning against the fence.

"Yo, Double D, you okay?" Eddy asked from where he was showing Sarah and Jimmy something.

"I'm fine, Eddy. Just... fine..." Edd said, then shook his head.

Marie looked curiously at him. "What did I miss?"

"...Never mind..." Edd whispered.

"Plank talked to Edd, and neither one of them will tell me what it was about." Jonny commented.

Eddy looked up abruptly. "That's right! You never got around to telling me what that was about!"

Edd looked at them, an odd look on his face. "I never got around to telling you a number of things that I know, since you interrupted me so much..." He reminded him, and sighed. "But, it's not as if it matters, because the one thing we need to know, I don't know..."

"Dang..." Kevin said, then shrugged. "Anyway, we're all here, and we need to get going soon."

"Are we having a sleepover again? If we're out late, it'd be better if the parents think there's a reason..." Edd asked.

"Plus, you don't want to go back to your house..." Eddy commented.

Nazz looked puzzled. "What? Why don't you want to go to your house?"

"Oh!" Eddy exclaimed, covering his mouth. "I didn't say anything..."

Kevin was thoughtful for a minute, then remembered. "Oh yeah! What was it that you said? That you weren't actually with your parents last night?"

All of the kids looked startled and crowded around to hear what was going on.

"That's right, I wasn't." Edd said.

"Then where were you, hmm? The word Kanker seems to be sticking in my mind right now..." Kevin challenged.

Several of the kids gasped and looked at Eddy.

"You lied?" Nazz asked.

"Big surprise..." Jonny muttered.

Edd shook his head. "Eddy didn't lie, he only told you what he remembers... It would seem that the Kankers, or Lee, anyway, erased his memory. I was actually with them last night, but Jonny never saw me..."

Jonny frowned. "But Ed told me that your parents had plans, and that they brought you with them..."

Edd looked up uncomfortably. "I'd rather not explain this right now, with all of you surrounding me in such a hostile way... Can I please explain everything tomorrow? Maybe we'll be able to piece what I know and what we learn tonight to figure out just what is going on..."

The other kids talked amongst themselves for a minute, and Ed, Eddy, and Marie came over.

"Can't say that I blame you..." Eddy commented. "I'd want to keep that whole thing secret too..."

Edd nodded. "You two will help explain, though, right?"

"Yep! You can count on us!" Ed said, saluting.

"Okay, then." Edd smiled, then stood up. "Huh?"

Marie looked around. "What the heck...?"

"What?" Eddy asked, looking around frantically. "What are you two looking at?"

Edd shook his head. "It's not a question of looking at, it's listening to. Don't you hear it? High-pitched noise, I'll get a headache if it doesn't stop soon..."

Ed and Eddy looked at each other.

"What noise?" Ed finally asked.

Marie blinked and kept herself from covering her ears. "You really don't hear it?"

"No..." Eddy asked, then started as both Edd and Marie winced.

"What could it be, that you and I hear it but... Oh, no..." Edd finally said, slapping his forehead. "Marie, do either May or Lee own a dog whistle? You know, those things humans aren't supposed to hear, since they have such high pitches?"

She looked frustrated. "Yeah, Lee has one... Is that what that racket is?"

Edd nodded. "Probably..."

Eddy opened his mouth, shut it, and then opened it again. "Um, I thought humans couldn't hear those things?"

Edd looked sideways at him. "Well, I've been understanding what every dog or wolf barked and howled all day long, so it kinda makes sense..."

The other two stared at him.

"Well, that has to stink..." Eddy finally said.

Edd nodded, then glanced over at the others, who were coming out of their huddle.

"All right, you can tell us tomorrow. But you have to tell us, or else." Kevin remarked.

"Gotcha..." Edd said, then held up his cloak and goggles. "Are we going, then?"

"Hey, what's that?" Sarah asked, and she and Jimmy ran over to grab it.

"Be careful! If you rip this even once, I'll..." Edd started, then sighed again in defeat as Jimmy's hands began to stroke the material.

"It's so silky, I want one!" Jimmy said.

Eddy walked over and grabbed it from them. "That's great, Double D will try and make you one some other time, okay?"

"Fine..." Jimmy complained.

"Besides, I don't think letting all of you have one would accomplish anything..." Edd commented, putting on the goggles. "There would be no point in them if all of you had a pair of the goggles and one of the cloaks..." He then pulled the black cloak on and wrapped it around himself.

"What do you mean by that?" Rolf asked.

"Well, remember how Jimmy said I simply appeared over there? He was telling the truth, I did suddenly become visible..."

Ed, Eddy, and Marie all put their stuff on.

"Are we getting ready or not? All of you have goggles, right?" Eddy asked.

"Yeah... AH! H-h-he's vanishing!" Nazz yelled, pointing at Edd.

Edd pulled the hood off as his body vanished. "That's the whole point, Nazz, this is an invisibility cloak..." He explained.

The others stared at his head. "You're kidding..." "No way..." "Cool!" They commented.

Jimmy nodded his head. "I want one, then. Can you make me one?"

Edd groaned. "I used all of the material, and Mother and Father ran out of the certain chemical that makes the light pass through the cloth, so now I can't make anymore..."

"Darn it..." Jimmy pouted for a moment. "Well, if you find any more, can I be the first you make one for?"

"Certainly... Now, can we finally be off? It's already approaching 8 'o clock..." Edd commented, putting the hood back up.

"But how will we see you guys?" Kevin asked, noticing that the other three were invisible also.

"Those goggles..." Edd explained.

"Oh! I can see you!" Jonny exclaimed. He gave the thumbs up. "Plank and I are ready to go!"

Edd eyed Plank again, then looked hastily at the others. "Are all of you ready?"

"Yep!" "Yeah." "Rolf is ready." "Me and Jimmy are ready..."

"Then let's go!" Eddy said, and they all went through the park to the woods.

Edd remained cloaked the entire time, as did Marie, but Ed and Eddy took them off.

"Those things get hot after a while..." Eddy commented.

"They're not too bad..." Edd replied, then stopped suddenly.

"Ow!" Kevin said, walking right into Edd. "Why'd you stop?"

Edd looked around. "Um, Eddy, shouldn't we be heading further right?"

Eddy glanced at the trees around them, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this is the way to the gate, not the trailer park..." Edd said.

Eddy nodded. "You're right, this is the way to the gate. I figured that we might as well just head to it and make our plan there instead out here..."

"Right. All right, let's keep going." Edd said.

"So, Double D, why don't you want to tell us your side of all of this?" Nazz asked.

Edd sighed. "You guys don't really know me, so you wouldn't understand what I'm going through..."

Rolf looked startled. "We know you, Ed-boy..."

"Not really... You guys are always hanging out together, while I'm always one of the Eds. When I'm not vaguely referred to as an Ed, I'm the 'brainy-Ed-boy', or 'Sockhead', or a dork... You don't spend time with me. None of you are exactly any of my friends, and besides, the fact that you guys know where I live and what I look like, even what I usually act like, doesn't mean you know me."

The others fell silent, thinking this over.

"He's right, of course..." Nazz finally said.

Eddy nodded. "None of you guys really know any of us, except Ed and

Sarah, but that's because you two are brother and sister. You always... I can't really explain it, like us when we're mean, and hate us when we're nice..."

"Huh?" Jimmy asked.

Edd looked back at them. "I believe what Eddy meant was that you guys are always suspicious of us when we're being honest and helpful, and that you almost always believe us when Eddy has a scam... Like when I'd been awake for 26 hours, and Eddy wanted to make Ed's Sea Ranch, and all of a sudden, I was the most popular person in the cul-de-sac. If you had all let me sleep, then consulted me, things would have gone much smoother..."

Eddy stared at him. "You were awake for 26 hours straight?"

"Yes... The day before, we had been doing scams all day, and when I went home, I did all of my chores, then worked on a difficult model that took me 14 hours 7 minutes to complete..."

Kevin nodded in understanding. "No wonder you were out of it all day long... Toothpaste, sheesh..."

Edd grimaced invisibly and watched where he was going.

Jimmy looked thoughtful now. "Speaking of all-day-scamming, why do you three always scam us?"

"Cause we want jawbreakers, stupid..." Eddy snapped.

Sarah shook her head. "Don't be a jerk, Eddy. Everyone knows you guys always want jawbreakers, but why do you scam us?"

Edd looked back again. "That would be because Eddy no longer receives allowance... In fact, now that I think of it, I don't think you've ever gotten allowance, Eddy. Why is that?"

"I used to, before you moved here, but I broke some expensive stuff, so my parents said I was in debt to them and that they'd use my allowance money to pay it off... I've gone and almost been out of debt a few times, but then I'd lose my temper, or something else would break... You get the idea..." Eddy explained.

"Indeed..." Edd said. "Well, Eddy never has money, while I do get allowance, but I'm saving it all for an electron microscope with my paper route money, and Ed... I'm not sure. You always have money, Sarah... Why doesn't Ed?"

"Cause he's an idiot, and he breaks stuff all the time too..." Sarah said.

"Ah... Well, there you have it, we never have any money, while you guys always have lots, so Eddy would obviously have the idea of getting you to pay us for stuff, thus letting us have a source..."

"Oh..." Nazz said slowly, nodding.

"Well, here we are..." Edd said, looking around the clearing.

"Wow, that's the gate? And it works?" Jimmy said, running up to. "That's so neat... Can we try it?"

Sarah and Edd followed him.

"I'm afraid not right now... we have other things we should be doing..." Edd said, then gestured. "Over here..."

They all went around to the backside, where several benches had been placed, on in shadow. Edd immediately sat on the shadowed one and pulled off the cloak. "Much better... That does get somewhat stuffy..."

Jonny tilted his head and watched Edd. "Then why did you wear it the entire time?" He asked.

Edd shook his head, with a little shiver. "Well, that, I'll have explain with all of the other things tomorrow..."

Marie sat next to him, and Jonny on the bench across from him.

"So what's the plan?" He asked Edd.

Edd looked up at him, and Marie noted that he carefully avoided looking at Plank. "That's what this meeting is for, I may be a 'child genius', as Kevin put it, but I'm not the best at this type of planning; you've seen how well previous spy missions of ours have gone. This would be more of Eddy or Kevin's area..."

"So the rest of us are just kinda hanging out?" Jonny asked. Edd nodded, and Jonny yawned. "Then I'll take a nap until then..." He murmured, then stretched out over the bench.

"That's a good idea he had, can I sleep too?" Marie asked, grinning.

Edd made a face. "The bench isn't long enough for you to lay on, and me sit down..." Marie made a pout face at him, and he sighed. "Oh, fine..."

She stretched out the moment he stood up. He looked down at her, shook his head wearily, and then leaned against the tree creating the shadow.

A very short time later, Eddy and Kevin were yelling at each other at the other side of the clearing. Stating them as the two best to lead the group probably hadn't been a good idea; now the rest of the kids, who were trying to calm them down, surrounded them.

/Eddy, that's not the way for you to get him to cooperate…/ Edd thought, then looked down in deep thought.

/Hi, Double D.../ another voice thought in his head. Edd didn't budge, but his mind jolted into a more alert state.

/So—what did you think/ Plank asked him.

/I have nothing more to say to you./ Edd replied coldly.

Plank regarded him for a minute. /I don't know why you're being so rude.../ He said finally.

/R-Rude? Me? After your inane accusations—as though I should lose control and.../ Edd exclaimed in his mind. /You're nothing like Jonny makes you out to be./

/Well, you're a special case... Really, a werewolf genius, making holes to other worlds.../ Plank replied. There was a hint of a sneer to his 'voice', despite having no mouth, and Edd shivered.

On the other side of the clearing, Ed stopped talking and looked over at Edd. The boy was standing with his hat draped over his face, but Ed still knew something was wrong.

"Eddy?" Ed asked.

"No, that won't do us any good either!" Eddy yelled at Kevin.

"You're just ignoring what I have to say because I said it, right?" Kevin demanded.

"Break it up already, you two! We won't get anything accomplished by being at each others' throats!" Nazz yelled.

"Um, Eddy? I think something's wrong with Double D..." Ed continued.

Eddy paid no attention to Ed. "Look, I think it would be better for me, Ed, Double D, and Marie to go up close with the rest of you as cover, since we can be invisible, and you can't!"

"But we're all smarter than you or Ed, and sneakier than Double D! Plus, we wouldn't want Marie going, what if she's spying for them?"

Ed glared at them and stomped off towards Edd.

/Why is he all afraid/ Ed wondered as he stepped in front of Edd. "Double D?" Ed asked softly.

Edd didn't look up or answer him.

"Why do we not sneak up and simply listen to what they are talking about?" Rolf asked practically.

Both Kevin and Eddy opened their mouths to answer when Ed yelled.

"Huh?" Nazz asked, and everyone looked over.

"Double D!" Ed exclaimed, shaking Edd.

Edd still didn't say anything or come out of sleep stammering, and Ed fell back, trying to figure out what was happening. He sat down, on Jonny.

"Hey!" Jonny exclaimed, waving his arms and dropping Plank. "Get off of me, Ed! Why are you sitting on me?"

Ed jumped up and spun around. "I'm sorry, Jonny. I didn't see you..."

Marie yawned and stretched. "Do we have a plan yet?"

"No, Eddy and Kevin are still bickering..." Ed replied, then looked at Edd. "Are you okay, Double D?"

Edd had picked his head up and looked around vaguely. "Wha...?"

"You're okay! There was something wrong, and you wouldn't answer me or anything..." Ed said.

Edd rubbed his head and looked down, where he saw Plank. He froze, then slowly backed away.

"What's wrong?" Jonny asked, picking Plank up. "What is scaring you so much? You've been looking at Plank like that all day..."

Edd's eyes darkened, but he shook his head. "It doesn't really matter, perhaps I'm simply losing my sanity..." He commented, then looked across the clearing towards the others. "Well, do we have our plan yet?"

Kevin and Eddy looked at each other.

"Um..." Eddy said, and Kevin commented, "Not really..."

Marie frowned. "Then what have you two been doing? Look, Double D, why don't you and I just go spy on them now, we're not doing much here..."

Edd nodded slowly. "We might as well, it looks like these two are never going to make a plan as it is..." He stretched, then picked up the cloak and wrapped it around himself.

She grinned up at him and put hers on. "Will we go in the trailer?"

"No, too risky..." Edd said, looking up thoughtfully. "We'll just go outside the kitchen window and listen to what they're talking about."

Eddy looked at the two, then at Ed. "All right Ed, we'll do the same thing. Get your stuff."

Ed saluted and put his cloak on, then picked up the bag of stuff. "Are you two going to need anything?"

Edd pondered that for a minute. "Um, let's see, something with a walkie-talkie function so we can stay in contac... That should work." Edd said, picking up a large sponge. He tried to put it in his pocket, missing twice as his cloak was turning see-through.

Ed stared. "Hey, that's Jeff!" He exclaimed angrily.

"Huh?" Jimmy asked. "Who's Jeff?"

Edd held the sponge out. "Ed, are you talking about this?"

Ed grinned and nodded. "Yep, that's Jeff."

Eddy looked irritated. "First you name seagulls, then chickens. Now you're naming the members of your sponge collection? Ed, you've got problems..."

"Yeah he does..." Marie commented, then looked at Edd. "Let's go." She said, putting the hood up.

He nodded and the two walked off.

----------------------------------

"Okay, Ed, let's go." Eddy said, putting his own hood up.

"Have we got everything we'll need?" Ed asked curiously.

Jimmy looked up. "Won't you need a radio, too?" He asked, holding one up. Ed and Eddy didn't notice, but Jimmy's finger pressed the talk button so that it was locked down.

"Oh, right! Gimme that, and we'll be on our way..." Eddy said, taking it from Jimmy's grasp.

"Hey...!" Kevin exclaimed, looking frustrated.

The Eds ignored him and ran off in the direction Edd and Marie had gone.

"I guess we'd better just follow Eddy's plan..." Jonny recommended as he got to his feet and walked over.

Rolf frowned. "This is not very organized..."

"Oh, heck with it..." Kevin said. "All right, Rolf, you'll come with me, we'll watch Ed and Eddy to make sure they don't try pulling anything..."

Nazz looked at Jimmy and Sarah. "Will you guys be staying here?"

Sarah nodded. "No reason to risk them doing anything worse to poor Jimmy here..." She explained.

"Gotcha... Then I'll stay here with you, and we can be home base." Nazz decided. "Everyone can meet back here after."

"And Plank and I will follow Marie and Double D..." Jonny proclaimed. Most of the kids looked at him, and he tried to explain. "I still wanna know what he's hiding from us, and why he and Plank won't tell me what's going on..."

"Right. Okay, let's get going." Kevin said, and they all went in their separate directions.

------------------------------------------

Ed and Eddy were slowly walking along, talking.

"Ed, what do you think is going on?" Eddy asked. "And be serious, no mutants or aliens, or any of that junk..."

Ed looked thoughtful. "Um, well, I dunno, Eddy... Was it 'cause of the gate? I mean, the Kankers never could tell us what to do before now..."

Eddy shook his head. "I don't know about that stuff; Double D didn't really prove any of that stuff really happened. And I don't think that May and Lee know enough of what they're doing to be able to erase memory."

"Um..." Ed said slowly, then sighed. "Eddy, do you not believe Double D?"

Eddy fell silent for a minute. "I don't know what to believe, Ed." He finally answered. "He hasn't been acting like he normally does, have you noticed? Sure, finding out his parents have been keeping stuff from him would make him act odd, but not _this_ odd. Losing his temper! Lying! And that thing, about our memories being erased, how do we know that's true? What if it was his memory that was altered, hmm? You just never can figure that kind of thing out..."

Ed looked startled. "What if it wasn't a matter of him memory being altered?"

"Than what would it have been?"

"What if that's not the real Double D? He told us he was taken to the trailer park, but he never said what happened after... And talking to Plank? He's never done that before either..."

Eddy's mouth was wide open. "Ed! You-you found a brain! I mean, that's it! It must be! That kid isn't even Double D!" He accused.

Ed pondered this for another minute. "Then, the real Double D...?"

"At the trailer park..." Eddy said, and they nodded simultaneously.

"We need to rescue him." Ed decided.

"Right. Come on, before the fake one gets back there..." Eddy recommended.

They then both set off through the woods.

-----------------------------------------

Jonny snuck from bush to bush in pursuit of Edd and Marie. The two stopped and looked at each other, then began talking. Jonny hid behind the tree they were standing under, setting the radio to talk so the others would hear.

"You had another reason for pairing up with me, didn't you?" Marie asked.

Edd nodded and sat on a nearby log. He made sure he was in shadow, then pulled the cloak off. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about earlier... Now, however, I feel rather awkward..."

"Try me." Marie said, smiling and sitting next to him.

"Well... I don't know..." Edd commented, looking uncomfortable.

Marie considered how to get him talking. "Remember this morning? You should have seen the look on your face, when you pulled your head out from of under the sofa, it was too funny.."

He made a face. "Do you really blame me? I just wake up, not entirely sure where I am, then I realize my hat is gone, revealing one of my more mortifying secrets... I had forgotten that I gave it to Eddy yesterday, and I panicked..."

Nazz gasped, looking shocked as the three listened to this conversation. "Did Double D just say what I think he did?" She exclaimed.

Jimmy nodded, equally amazed. "He gave it to Eddy, and yet he went and told us that Eddy took it... He lied!"

Sarah was concerned. "He's done that at least once before, when they stole my diary, he said he never looked in it..."

Nazz shook her head. "This is bigger than a diary... That means that Eddy was telling the truth the whole time... What if Eddy was right about that not really being Double D? He _has_ been acting weird..."

"Whoa... I hadn't thought of that..." Jimmy whispered.

"Actually, all four of them have been acting odd... Double D, Eddy, my brother, and that Kanker..." Sarah commented.

Jimmy nodded. "You're right... And I should tell Kevin all of this." He set an extra radio on another frequency and pressed talk. "Kevin? You there?" He asked quietly.

_"Shh!"_ Kevin hissed. Rolf came on. _"We are just behind the other Ed boys, they are approaching the trailer..."_

"Rolf, tell Kevin that Eddy was telling the truth about the hat thing, and that Nazz suspects he might be right about Double D..." Jimmy whispered.

_"Certainly..." Rolf replied. "How do you say it?"_

_"Out, Rolf..."_ Kevin's voice faintly said.

"Out? All right, then, out..." Rolf said, then the radio went dead.

Sarah nodded, then looked at Nazz. "They still talking?"

Nazz nodded. "Listen..."

---------------------------------------------

"I don't really blame you for feeling that way, things have been rather hectic lately..." Marie said, leaning against the tree.

Edd nodded his head. "Tell me about it... It doesn't help that Ed and Eddy don't remember, and it really doesn't help that it's your sisters..."

She glared at him and pushed him off the log. "That's not my fault!"

He grinned ruefully, then froze and stared at his hand. "Shoot!" He exclaimed, leaping up.

"What?"

"The shadow isn't as complete as I originally thought..."

"Oh...! W-well, we should be going anyway, shouldn't we?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, let's go... Ed and Eddy are probably wondering why they got there before we did..."

The two put their cloaks back on and continued walking through the woods to the trailer park.

-------------------------------

Jonny stood up and spoke in the radio quietly. "Did you guys get all of that?"

"Yep..." Nazz's voice said faintly. "What do you think that shadow thing was about?"

Jonny shrugged. "I don't know... Do you, Plank?"

Plank didn't answer him.

"Plank!" Jonny exclaimed.

Still no answer.

"Oh, fine, be that way... Nazz, Plank won't tell me, but I think he knows... I'll keep following them."

Sarah came on. "Whatever you do, don't let them see you, all right?"

"Right." Jonny said. "Jonny, out." He put the radio in his pocket and looked up the path. Edd and Marie were almost out of sight.

/And there they go…/ He thought bitterly.

_/It's not like I can really help.../_ Plank commented sadly.

Jonny looked down at Plank. "You can too, you're just being a brat. You should feel lucky I let you come with me." His lip quivered at being so mean to his buddy, but he quickly looked up to avoid meeting Plank's eyes.

Plank went silent, so Jonny shook his head in frustration, then began running after Edd and Marie.

-----------------------

Ed and Eddy stopped at the edge of the creek. "Now, how are we going to get across this without being caught?" Eddy whispered, then started and grabbed Ed's arm. "Don't get a tree, okay Ed?"

Ed pouted. "How else can I make a bridge?" He asked.

Eddy looked thoughtful. "Good question..."

"Hmm...There's a log?" Ed asked, pointing to a log behind him.

"As long as it's not still in the ground, it'll make too much noise that way..." Eddy replied.

Ed immediately turned and picked the log up, then carefully set it across the creek. "Bridge ready, Eddy!"

"Right. Follow me, and be quiet." Eddy whispered, then snuck across the log towards the Kanker's trailer.

------------------------------------------

Kevin and Rolf came to the edge of the woods. "There they go..." Kevin said softly. "Off to alert the Kanker sisters, probably..."

"I think that the Ed-boys really believe that the Kanker Sisters are holding the real Edd-boy captive..." Rolf commented.

"They probably do, but I know they're wrong... I just know it." Kevin replied, then gestured with his head. Come on, we have to make sure they don't--"

"EDDY!" Edd's voice rang out from in the trailer park. "What... think ...you're **do**ing?"

Kevin and Rolf jumped in surprise. "They blew it!" Kevin exclaimed.

"We must find out what it is that they are doing..." Rolf reminded him. "Let us sneak in and watch."

He nodded quickly, and they both ran across the log.

---------------------------------------------

Edd and Marie stood next to each other, staring at Ed and Eddy, and the two people they had been talking to. Eddy turned and smiled at Edd.

"Hi, Double D... What brings you here?" Eddy asked sweetly.

Edd shook his head. "Eddy, you're conspiring with the enemy! What on Earth has come over you? What do you think you're doing?"

May and Lee, the other people present, smiled sweetly at Edd.

"Love has come over me, Double D, nothing more than love..." Eddy said, then leaned over and kissed Lee...

--------------------------------------------------------

End of Part 5

-------------------------------------------------------

Edd: Well, she finally edited it.

KK: Yep.

Eddy: On November 16th, even. November—of 2005!

KK(defensive): I know!

Edd: How long has it been since you began this story, again?

KK(sullen): Since the year that the fic's taking place in… So, yes, before you ask, it's been at least three years since the first version of this chapter. I know, I know.

Ed(sadly): I miss my chickens… And I don't want to kiss Kanker sisters.

Eddy (makes a face): Yeah, tell me about it! Why'd I have to kiss her!

Edd: Um, well, we can assume that the two did more of their 'persuading'... Yes? So those actions weren't of your own will.

Eddy: It's the principle of the thing! I don't kiss Kankers!

KK: Yeah, yeah; well, it was necessary for purposes of the plot.

Eddy (flatly): Oh, really.

KK: Yep. Even in the original version--—which ignored a certain sibling, and involved no extra trip to 832---even then the bit where you two would still be hanging out with the Kankers was necessary. Actually… (muses for a moment) Come to think of it, in the very first version, I think there was supposed to be a cage under the trailer, so that they could do all kinds of evil things to Kevin, Nazz, and you...

Edd (blinking): What kinds of things?

KK (shifty) Um, well… That would require me spoiling other things. I don't want to.

Ed: And Kitty has class to get to.

Edd: In addition to a five page paper you haven't started, due tomorrow?

Eddy (laughing): You're kidding! An essay, and you're working on us? That's like Double D doing something like that!

KK: I'm gonna work on it now—honestly, Eddy. Like you should talk, considering the commercials I saw regarding _report cards_…? (starts to leave the room)

Eddy (blinking) Uh, well, that was different! (shakes fist at the door as Kitty leaves) Smart aleks, all of you.

Ed: How's she doing the essay if she's still typing in here?

All three contemplate this for a few minutes. Ed stops first, reaching down to take off his shoe. The largest toe is sticking out of his sock, and he takes several minutes delight in drawing a face on it and laying on the bed. He then sticks his leg up so that the head--—with his face---is next to Edd and Eddy as they continue contemplating.

Eddy (shrugs): Who knows, who cares. **I** want all this crap with the Kankers over—I mean, kissing them! Double D, it's one thing with you—

Edd (indignant): What does that mean?

Eddy (continuing): —But with me? Or Ed? Different thing.

Edd: …Indeed. Well, in either case, these chapters are going up so that Kitty feels she accomplished _some_thing in the stead of that paper..

Ed: I feel as light as a feather..!

Edd and Eddy look over. The Ed-faced toe is floating back and forth, now with a miniature Ed jacked hanging off of it.

Eddy (blinks): Umm… Right…

Ed-Toe (wiggling around in an attempt at a wave) 'Please read and review!'


End file.
